Coincidence
by lunastars
Summary: Set Before The First Film. - Raine meets the team one night at the races, she keeps popping up but who is she and what is her story?
1. The Races

**NOTE: This is set before the first film, I would also like to point out that I had the character Raine in another story. I deleted that story as there were so many mistakes and this is the new version. Please enjoy! Oh and if there are any other things that you feel need explaining about this fic then please feel free to let me know and I'll clear it up in the next chapter. Thanks! :)**

I looked around trying to take in my surroundings. I'd been to a race before but nothing on this scale. There were hundreds of people and the cars to go with them. Part of me wanted the police to show up just to see how a crowd this big would separate.

I walked amongst the cars parked to the side of the street. I could see cars parked away from the crowds, their owners still in them, it was clear that they were probably on the radio waiting to hear about police activity.

"Hey," I heard a voice behind me say.

I turned to see a dark skinned man dressed almost completely in denim. He was surrounded by about four women but he was staring intently at me.

"Hi," I said, fully alert.

"You're new around here."

"What brought you to that conclusion?" I laughed.

"I would've recognized you."

I looked down at myself, there was nothing particularly remunerable about me. I always wore jeans that were possibly a little bit too tight, a plain t-shirt and an oversized shirt over the top. I wore boots, purposely with no heels, I wanted to get places as fast as possible. My black hair fell poker straight half way down my back, my fringe covered some of my face while the black thin framed sunglasses covered the rest.

"I'm not so sure about that," I whispered.

"Oh, I am," he winked.

"Down, Edwin." I heard someone laugh. I turned to see a slightly shorter man. He had a bald head and what looked like the beginnings of a mustache.

"Aw, Hector, I was only having fun," the man called Edwin said.

"He's harmless really," Hector smiled as he came towards me.

"He was no bother."

"What's your name?"

"Raine," I smiled.

"Yeah, I definitely would've remembered you," Edwin laughed, he winked and walked off with his small group of women.

"What brings you round?" He started to walk so I followed him.

"It's been a while since I went to a race like this."

"You've been to something like this before? How old are you?"

"I knew people who raced, and I'm twenty, I'll be twenty-one in about two weeks."

"You're older than I thought you'd be, oh wait, here they are! Come on."

He ran towards a gathering crowd, not sure what was happening I decided it was best to follow. Five cars were driving up in a "V" formation. Each a different colour.

Once they'd stopped the crowd tightened in. Hector had managed to get us to the front. From here I could see who stepped out of the car. One of them was a tall bald man who had muscles that any man would be jealous of, another was a man who was just as tall but not as muscular, however he did have a head full of hair in a dark shade of brown. A third man was the same as the second but looked more tamed and was blonde. There was a fourth and final man, he was the complete opposite to the others. He was slim, fragile looking and small. Out of the last car stepped two girls. One of them was small and slim, probably the same age as me. She had long hair and an innocent look about her. The second girl was similar in looks but seemed a lot tougher.

"Who are they?" I can't help but ask.

"You're definitely not from around here," Hector laughed. "The bald guy is Dom, he's the king of the streets. The innocent looking girl is his baby sister Mia, the tougher one is his girlfriend Letty. The small guy who looks like the wind could knock him over is Jesse. The blonde one is Leon and the other guy is Vince. They're a team, a family. No one closer than them."

I couldn't help but look at them. Everyone seemed to know exactly who they were. I couldn't take my eyes away, but that didn't last long as Hector grabbed my hand and dragged me straight towards them.

Along the way he dropped my hand. "Sorry, you sort of zoned out."

"It's OK, but why are we going over here?"

"I need to talk to, Dom." As we reached them is voice got louder. "Hey, brother!"

"Hector!" Dom turned. "What can I do for you?"

"I told people that there was a party at yours after this, I wasn't wrong was I?"

"As long as nobody brings back any trouble, I'm happy to have a party back at mine... You bringing at date?" He raised an eyebrow as he motioned to me.

"Oh, Raine?" Hector smiled. "No, I just met her. She's new in town."

"Hey," Dom smiled.

It was a surprisingly friendly smile for someone his size. "Hello," I half smiled.

"You race?"

"I can barely drive," I laughed.

"Shame, new competition would've been good. Maybe talk to you later?"

I smiled at that. "Yeah, maybe."

I watched as he walked back to his car. He and Vince were the only ones to get into their cars, they drove a little a head. I noticed two other cars move in the same direction.

"Do you know much about cars?" Hector asked as we followed with the crowd.

"No. To be honest, I'm not a major fan of the races. I only ever went because of my friend, he was crazy about them. After I lost contact with him I just kept going, it started to become a tradition. Although I haven't been for a couple of years."

"Well you get on with Dom surprisingly well then."

I smiled at that. Hector made it sound like not many people did get on with him, at least not at first. I don't know why getting on with a complete stranger made me so happy but it did.

As we came to a stop I realised where the four cars had gone. They had all lined up at the starting post. Lane one was Dom, lane two was Vince, lane three was an Asian guy and lane four was a small guy who looked like he was about to throw up.

"What are they racing for?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of them.

"Just cash this time, sometimes they race for pink slips and other properties."

"Who's in favour to win?"

Hector scoffed as if it were obvious. "Dom."

"And to come last place?"

"They say John, that's the skinny kid at the end but I think it'll be Matt."

Matt must've been the guy in lane three. I was intrigued to see how the out come would be. No matter what people seemed pretty convinced that Dom would be the one to win.

My concentration grew even stronger as a woman, who seemed to be wearing practically nothing stepped out. She stood between lanes two and three but made sure she was far enough away that all four racers could see.

The men started their engines and prepared their cars to move. From what I could see each of them were smiling. As soon as the woman dropped the flag she was holding on the floor all four cars zoomed off.

I watched as they bolted down the street. I noticed with shockingly little surprise that Dom was in front. As they turned out of sight I could see that he was first, Vince was second leaving Matt and John a fair bit behind.

The crowd slowly started to move. They were moving away from the starting line. Not far from it I noticed another line, this one must be the finishing line. Hector and I stood close enough that we could see but not too close that we were right up front.

Just as I was about to ask something the four cars came zooming into sight. Dom was of course up front, Vince was still right behind him and as Hector had predicted John was third and Matt was last.

"I told you," he winked as if reading my mind.

The crowd ran over as they crossed the line all wanting to support their king. Dom had won the race.


	2. After Party

I tried to compose myself as I walked up the garden path. There were a couple of people sat outside the house but most were inside. Music was blaring, it was so loud that I'm shocked the windows haven't shattered yet.

As I entered the house I was surprised by the view around me. There were people, and lots of them, scattered all over the room. Some were up dancing, some were drinking, others were making out and there were that small few who were doing combinations of the three.

"So you really aren't Hector's date then?"

I turned to the familiar voice of Dom and smirked. "Like he said, I just met him tonight."

"You're a bit young for him anyway," he shrugged.

"Bit young?" I raised m eyebrow.

"Yeah, you've got to be about twenty."

"How did you know? Did Hector say something?"

"No, he missed that little detail out. I just guessed, you look a bit like my sister, she's twenty also."

I nodded with a smile at that. "What did he say about me?"

"Told me about your friend, the races, all that sort of stuff. He thought I'd be interested."

"And were you?" I asked quietly.

"That depends on what he's interested in exactly."

I turned swiftly to see a girl stood at the bottom of the stairs, I noticed that it was Letty. She must have only heard the last part of the conversation. She was about my height, possibly a little taller. Her hair was pulled back tight and her left eyebrow was raised slightly.

"Nothing," Dom smiled as he walked over to her. He kissed her cheek but she continued to stare at me. "Hector was telling me some things about her, he thought I would be interested. Which I was by the way," he added.

Letty half smiled. "Good."

"You should trust him, y'know." I knew as soon as I said it I shouldn't have.

"I trust him enough. I don't trust people like you."

"People like me?" _What was I doing?_

"People who just show up out of nowhere and try to dig their claws in."

"Trust me, I'm not going to be around here long enough to get my claws dug in. I'm only staying for a few more days then I'm gone."

"Good riddance."

"Down ladies," a new voice said. I turned to see that it was Vince. "Unless you're going to start fighting. I ain't saying no to that."

"Just for that, Vince, I'm not gonna touch her."

Letty walked past Vince. As she did she pushed him slightly. He shouted after her as he wiped his spilt bear off of his shirt.

"She's harmless," Dom laughed. "Trust me, you two would get on really."

Before I could answer he walked away, so Vince spoke instead. "He's right. From what I've seen you two would get on."

I sighed. "Yeah, well, apparently not tonight."

"Beer?"

I just shrugged and he dragged me into the kitchen. It was quiet in there, something I didn't expect. I sat down at the kitchen table as Vince passed me an open beer. I took it with a nod of thanks and sipped it quietly.

"Shouldn't you ask if I'm legally old enough to drink this?"

"Yeah, but then I'd have to ask everyone." He laughed as he sat up on the side. "Where'd you come from?"

"Nowhere near here."

"Do you like it here?"

"Here?" I motioned to the area around me. "Or _here_?" And I motioned to a slightly wider area.

He shook his head and rolled his eyes before saying. "_Here_."

"I like it," I smiled before adding. "The house is nice too."

"It's better when it's quiet. Just Dom, Mia, Letty, Leon, Jesse and I. Nice and quiet so that we can just chill and do whatever we like."

"You don't seem like the quiet kind," I commented as I took another sip of beer.

"I'm not but even people like me need some down time."

I smiled at that. It was true. Jacob was always the same. He was the wildest person I knew but even he liked to have a little down time where he could just let his guard down and be himself without worrying about everything and everyone else

"Yeah, I guess you do."

"Wow, Vince. She's been here, what? Five minutes? And you've already got her on her own."

"You know I'm not interested," Vince winked as Mia came into view.

"Neither am I," she smirked and came to sit next to me. "I'm Mia."

"Yeah, Hector told me at the races. I'm Raine."

"Nice to meet you. Did you have fun watching?"

"I haven't been to one for a while, it was weird being back there. Can't deny it was fun, never seen a race end so quickly."

"You'll get used to it," Mia laughed as she got up. "I'll see you around."

As she left Vince jumped off the side and followed her. I put my legs up on the chair opposite me and drank the rest of my beer. Once it was finished I let it sit on the table next to me. I watched the patterns on the roof as I thought to myself.

Footsteps suddenly appeared inside the kitchen. I looked up to see Letty heading over to the fridge. Had she noticed me?

"Do you want another one?" She had.

"Erm, no, thank you."

She closed the fridge, took the top off her bottle and came over to me. I moved my feet so that she could sit down. As she did she took a sip before placing it on the table.

"Look, I'm sorry. And if you knew me you would know how hard that is for me to say."

"I believe that it was hard, but thank you. It means a lot. And if I did something then I'm sorry to."

"Don't be," Letty smiled. "Dom doesn't really take to people that easily, yet you've been here five minutes and he's taken to you."

"What about all these people?"

"Just people."

"Even Hector?"

"Well, not all just people. Look there's his family - Mia, Vince, Leon, Jesse and I - then there's his friends, like Hector, but even they come in small numbers. He doesn't trust them as much as his family, took him forever to let them in, to speak to them like they were old friends."

"Dom, really? So he's not that nice and friendly to everyone?"

"Nope, he's not cruel but he's not soft either. Maybe it's because you look like Mia."

"They're close aren't they?" I smiled broadly.

"As close as two people can get. She's his biggest weakness," she laughed before taking a mouthful of beer.

"What about you? Aren't you a weakness?"

"I guess so," she shrugged. "Nothing like Mia though. I don't mind. Anyone who is anyone knows that no one comes above Mia in Dom's life. She'll always be number one in his eyes."

"It's nice," I commented.

"You sound like you understand." Letty raised an eyebrow and swirled her beer bottle.

"I had a friend," I shrugged. "He was like a brother."

"Was?"

"Oh, erm, I haven't seen him for a while. Both busy, traveling is a bit much."

"So you have nobody else?"

"No one close by, but I like to be on my own," I whispered. "It's nice, thoughtful."

"You like being on your own with your thoughts because it's nice? Well, then this party doesn't seem like the right place for you."

"I know." I stand up. "But maybe the quiet thoughtful side is only part of me.".

I smiled at her as I left the room. I walked through into the lounge. I wondered across the room till I was near the window. I looked out the big window. It looked pretty quiet outside considering the noise from here. Were people around here used to such noise?

"You look lost."

I turned around to see the blonde one from the race, Leon. Seeing him this close up it was hard not to notice how strangely good looking he was.

"Yeah, lost."

I looked back out of the window as Leon came over. He sat down on the ledge and folded his arms. I noticed him look at me as I watched the few cars pass the house. Nothing was said, he just watched me, arms still folded.

"Can I help you?" I asked absent mindlessly.

"No, it's just..."

"What?" I turned to look at him.

"Nothing, you just look very interesting. Plus, you're new, so that means you probably are."

"I'm Raine," I smiled.

"Leon." He held out his right hand and I shook it.

"I know, Hector told me at the race."

"Hector, huh? So you're the date?"

I groaned. "I'm not Hector's date. Plus, I thought that joke was to annoy him?"

"It was, but I wondered how you would react," he smiled. "It was fun."

I rolled my eyes. "Hilarious."

"Leon, man, have you seen Lorraine anywhere?" Oh." It was Jesse. He seemed to freeze at the sight of me. "Sorry."

"Jess, this is Raine." He gestured to me. "Raine this is Jesse."

"Hey," I smiled.

He gave me a friendly wave before whispering "hi."

"I think I saw her go into the kitchen to get a drink,"

"Who? Oh, Lorraine! Thanks, Leon."

He rushed from the room which left me smiling. I looked at Leon who was still watching me. I found myself blushing for some strange reason. In an attempt to hide it I looked away.

"Do you want to go outside?" He asked. I eyed him suspiciously which prompted him to say "just onto the porch. There's people out there."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, outside sounds good."

He led the way and I followed. On the way out he grabbed two bottles of beer. Once outside we sat down on the porch. I saw crossed legged while Leon placed his feet on the third step down. I noticed that he shuffled closer to me.

"What made you come to the party?"

"It sounded interesting. After the race it was bound to be good."

"You enjoyed it, huh?"

I smiled and leaned back, I supported my weight with my arms outstretched behind me. "Yeah, I forgot how exciting they can be."

He laughed. "_You _attend races?"

"I think tonight proved that."

"Yeah, but it sounded like you attend them regularly."

"Sort of," I smiled. "Don't sound so shocked.

"I'm not shocked." He pulled an innocent sort of expression and then smiled. "You plan on sticking around?"

I looked out at the street. Part of me wanted to tell him I would stick around but the other part of me knew that I couldn't guarantee it. Settling for a middle line was probably my best bet. "I'm not sure, we'll see." I smiled to myself.


	3. The Diner

I wondered alone down the road, my head still pounding from the party a couple of nights ago. It was the music more than anything. Only having had three beers during the whole night it could only have been the music that caused this massive headache.

Apart from that the party was surprisingly good considering I didn't know anybody there. Meeting the king of the streets and his small little family was a bonus. Dom, who apparently didn't attach to people easily, was nice enough to me. As was his sister and his friend Vince who seemed to chase Mia around like a lost puppy. Of course, there was Letty, the girl who could hold her own and wasn't afraid to speak her mind. Ah, and lost little Jesse who seemed like anything could break him. Then there was Leon. _Leon_. My mind still raced when I thought of him, but I can't let it.

As my mind continued to think about the party I noticed a small diner across the road. It looked low key. From what I could see it wasn't very bright inside and the blackboards displayed very little bringing me to the conclusion that they didn't sell much. The building was under the name of "Toretto's Diner." I could have sworn I heard that name at the party, but where? Why?

I entered the diner and took a seat at the bar. From inside I could get a better look. There was a bar in which I was situated at. Inside it was a workspace and behind the bar was a small office. Around the outside there were a couple of tables and chairs. It also looked like they sold some groceries and minor accessories.

"Well, well, well!"

I knew that voice. I turned to see the gigantic Dom standing behind me. "Hello," I smiled.

"Didn't think I'd be seeing you around here."

That's when it clicked. "Oh, this is your diner."

"Well, it belonged to my parents but I took it on. Mia works here mostly, I just run the business side. You know… Orders, money, that sort of thing."

"Sounds too boring for a guy like you, is that why you race?" I asked, patting the seat next to me.

He sat down before saying "no, I run a garage. Again, it belonged to my parents but I took it on. The team works there, Mia does the paper work for there. That's why I offered to do the paper work to help out here."

I sighed. "Your own business, that sounds fun. I wish I had something like that. Finding a job is hard enough."

"Are you short for money?" He sounded somewhat worried.

"Oh, not yet, no. I have a supply, I just don't want to dip into it too much, I was saving it up. But I can't afford to stick around here for too long."

"But you can afford to stick around somewhere else?" he asked, left eyebrow slightly raised.

"Well, no, but I have friends near here. They said I could stay with them if I ever passed through, that would take some pressure off."

He smiled at me but didn't say anything. Instead he leaned over the bar and grabbed himself a bottle of beer. He motioned it to me first but after I shook my head he took it as his own. I watched as he ripped the bottle top off and knew I wouldn't be able to do it.

As he took his first sip and I leaned against the bar his small little family walked in. Vince laughed and gave me a wave but followed Mia – who gave me a little smile – into the workspace. Jesse quietly waved and pulled a stool round while Letty did the same. I couldn't help but notice that Leon was missing.

However, just as I was about to ask where he was he walked into the diner. He didn't seem to notice me yet. He pulled a stool around and just before he sat on it he realised there was an extra person. A grin appeared across his face.

"So you decided to stay?"

"Like I said," I smiled. "I'm not sure, we'll see."

"Well, I didn't expect to see you again," he laughed. "So this is better than nothing."

I couldn't help but smile at that. He seemed genuinely happy to see me. "Somebody would think you missed me."

"What if I had?" It was obvious he was challenging me.

The whole of the diner had gone quiet. They were looking back and forwards between Leon and I. Letty had a smirk on her face as she wrapped herself in Dom's arms. Jesse had a ridiculous grin on his face, as did Mia but hers was more subtle. Vince was the one to make a comment.

"I would tell you that I missed you too." There was no point in denying it, and he might not even take it seriously, but it was true. As silly as it sounded, I'd only known him a few hours but he was interesting. He reminded me a lot of Jacob in certain ways. The only difference was their looks and the fact that Jacob was like a brother. They both had pretty similar personalities from what I could tell and I'd grown to like both in a short amount of time.

He grinned. "Well it's a good thing I missed you then."

"Is it too early for me to start making jokes about you two?" Vince laughed.

Leon grabbed Jesse's hat and threw it at Vince. "Yes."

"Now, now, boys," Dom laughed. "No fighting in front of the guest."

Leon gave Vince a look before turning to me. "Will you stay?"

"I don't know," I whispered. "I was thinking of going to stay with a friend."

"Does this friend live nearby?"

I shook my head. "No, she lives about two hours away, if more."

"Then go in a couple of days, please."

I frowned. "I really did promise I'd go see her."

"Please."

"Well, before he gets on the floor and starts begging … We're having a barbeque," Dom smiled. "Do you want to come?"

I looked at Dom the round at everyone else. I didn't know any of them that well, I wasn't even sure if I could trust them, _I didn't trust them_ but a barbeque didn't seem that terrible. I felt bad for staying, for eating with them and spending time with them. I felt bad for liking them as much as I did, especially Leon. I couldn't deny the fact that it sounded nice.

"OK…" I whispered. "What time?"

"Well, why don't you just sit here with us? We're going home after this and then we'll probably set up the barbeque straight away."

"I… Well, I'll stay for a bit, but I'd rather make my own way there, I want to walk around for a bit anyway. I need to go some places."

"I can give you a lift," Leon smiled.

"No, really!" I said a bit too urgently. "I'm fine honestly."

The group just looked at me but soon enough accepted my answer that I would not be going with them just yet. Instead Mia brought out an array of snacks and drinks for us all to have. I felt bad about taking all of this so before I left I quietly slipped some money on the bar.


	4. A Barbeque With Friends

As I walked away I didn't bother to look back at the diner, it seemed pointless really. I had said my goodbyes swiftly and I had no desire to go back to them. I would have no contact with them until the barbeque in an hour or two.

As I wondered a little bit further away my phone started to ring. I picked it up as quickly as possible and urgently answered it. The woman on the phone made sure to tell me why she was calling, of course it was about Jacob. For the rest of the conversation I didn't say a word, I just let her speak and tell me everything.

"Thanks," I finally managed to whisper.

I didn't give her much time before I hung up the phone. Not wanting to dwell too much longer on the phone call I continued to walk. Along the way I kicked any little stones I passed and dug my hands into my jeans pocket.

At one point just to keep myself distracted I took off my over top so that only a small black tank top was left. I swung the top around in circles by my side and started to whistle a tune to myself.

"You're earlier that I thought you'd be!"

I looked up to see Dom standing outside his house; he was tending to a barbeque. Without realising I had walked to Dom's house and quite quickly at that matter. I stopped spinning my top and looked over at him.

"Oh, yeah, well I didn't have to do as much as I thought I did."

"Good, come on up."

I walked slowly up the small stone steps and made my way across the grass to where he stood. When I reached him I could see that he was cooking some chicken, a few sausages and some burgers. As I was about to ask what else there would be to go with them Mia and Letty came outside holding various other foods like salad and potatoes.

"Where are the guys?"

"Leon and Jesse were getting more chairs from round back and Vince should be in the kitchen, but knowing him he's probably lying down on the couch or something," Dom laughed.

"I heard that."

As I turned around to see Vince coming out of the house Dom shouted "maybe you were meant to!"

In response Vince just held up his middle finger and walked over to the table. He sat down, put his feet up on another chair and opened a beer. Mia rolled her eyes but sat down next to him.

"Hey!" Leon called as he came round the corner holding two chairs.

"Hi," I called back.

"Who are you...? Oh! Hi, Raine!" Jesse said happily as he came into view holding two chairs.

I waved at him as he smiled and put his chairs down. He took one as his own and Letty took the other. Once Leon put his down he sat in one of them. I patted Dom's arm gently to let him know I was going to sit down.

Not wanting to be the one who told Vince to move I went to sit with Leon. I had to admit it was nice when I saw him grinning at me. No one had been that happy to see me for a while. So in response all I could do was grin back.

Luckily enough for me that was all there was time for. Dom came over with a huge platter of meat and as he set it down he nudged Vinces feet. He didn't move them at first but when Dom went to sit down he seemed to hurry up. As the rest of us were opening our own drinks Vince grumpily grabbed a burger.

"Ah!" Dom smiled.

"Fuck," Vince muttered then laughed. "Fine!"

I looked around, confused. I then saw everyone put their hands together and bow their heads. I copied the actions. Soon Vince went on to say grace. Wow. They were really saying grace, they were actually saying it.

"Let's eat!" Letty shouted happily.

I shook myself out of my thoughts and dug in. I refused to eat too much. I had some potatoes, the thinnest burger and a tiny bit of chicken. I couldn't eat much more, I wouldn't let myself take too much from these people.

"You not hungry?" Jesse whispered quietly.

"Oh, erm... Yeah, I guess I'm not. Plus, don't want to tempt fate... If I finish this I'll eat more maybe," I smiled happily.

"You sure? Beaus you don't have to, the others eat like pigs so no food will go to waste." At that he motioned to his plate.

I looked down. Granted he had a rather large piece of chicken but apart from that he had one small sausage, about three potatoes and a small bit of salad. I couldn't help but smile, his plate looked almost as full as mines did.

"Yeah, maybe I'll just let them pig out for a bit then."

At that Jesse grinned and set about eating. I couldn't help but look at him for a little longer. He seemed so sweet, so nice, so... Innocent. But I shook my head at that, anyone could wear a mask even the seemingly harmless like Jesse.

At that my phone started to ring again. I managed to grab it quickly. "Shit, sorry," I muttered before picking it up. "Hello," I muttered into the receiver.

It was the woman from before. I looked at the others as she spoke. I noticed that all of them had stopped eating and were watching me intently.

"So is that good or bad?" I whispered. "I mean is he..."

I saw Leon give Dom a look. Everyone was looking more intently at me. Every so often they would glance at each other. These looks continued as I told the woman that I was thankful for her calling and that I would come over as soon as I could.

As I put the phone down I quietly pushed my plate away. I ran one hand through my hair to give me some time to think before I had to face the others. When I looked up they were still looking at me.

"Is everything OK?" Leon was the first to talk.

"Yes, it was nothing."

"OK," Dom smiled. "Let's finish this up and get some dessert then."

At those words the team didn't say another word but went back to eating. It was clear that they didn't believe me and wanted to know what was going on but they obeyed Dom's hint to drop it. I felt like they probably went along with it because they barely knew me. It didn't make sense for me to open up to these people who were essentially strangers.


	5. Lenny

**I've had two quite positive reviews considering this is something I thought of off the top of my head. So thank you for that!**

Secondly, if anything seems a little wrong, for example how much she paid for the room, then please don't take it too seriously. I sort of guessed and based on things I'd found online. Either way, I hope you enjoy it. :D

"Thanks for having me but I really must be going now," I announced as I stood up from the couch.

"So soon?" Leon asked urgently.

"Well, I wouldn't really call it "so soon." I mean, it is dark outside. It's…" I looked down at my watch. "Past nine o'clock, I've been here for hours."

"OK, we'll all let you go, but only if you can prove you have somewhere to go," Dom grinned.

"I have enough money for a motel; I saw one not too far from here."

"Well, in that case, here…" Dom trailed off as he wrote something on a piece of paper. I studied him suspiciously as he handed it to me. "Call me when you get there, you don't need to say where you are or anything. I just want to make sure you got there, nobody should be wondering alone out there at night."

I feel like arguing, telling him that I don't need his help, that I don't trust him and he'll probably be the one to get me killed, but I didn't do any of that. Instead I smiled and put the little piece of paper into my back pocket. I pulled my shirt back on and button it up.

"I'll call you," I smiled as I left the house.

Once I got outside I had to give myself a few moments to catch my breath. I couldn't believe that I actually had fun with these people. Of all the people in the world I could've hung out with it just had to be them. I wanted to hurt something, to hurt myself. I felt like I was moving over to the wrong side.

"Get a grip," I muttered sternly to myself. "It's all going to help in the end. You need to do this."

After waiting for a few moments and convincing myself that this was right and I wasn't doing anything wrong, I set off. I walked swiftly away from the Toretto house and didn't slow down till the house was completely out of sight.

As I slowed down I looked around, trying to think of what to do next. Of course it didn't take me long. I would go and get a room then get to the hospital in order to see Jacob. I frowned at that thought but continued to take my phone out and call for a taxi.

Luckily enough for me there was one just around the corner that was on its way back from a job. He swung by and picked me up within five minutes of me calling. I swiftly got into the back seat and asked him to take me to the nearest motel.

We passed one but he didn't stop, I wondered why but when we did stop I understood. This one was so much nicer. It was a baby blue colour on the outside; it looked brand new and was well lit. Unfortunately it probably cost a lot but that was something I would have to work out.

"I thought this one would be better suited, that one we past back there has a bad reputation… Sorry if I scared you for not stopping."

"Oh, no, you didn't scare me. It was nice of you to think of that, this place is lovely."

I fiddled with my purse for a moment trying to sort out the money. I wanted to give him a tip but I needed money for the hotel. That small bit of change could make all the difference.

"Tell you what, this one is on the house. If they ask I'll say you didn't need me and I came here on a wild goose chase."

"Really?"

"Yes, look, you seem like a nice enough girl and well I can see from here that there's not much money in that purse of yours. I wouldn't be able to sleep if I knew I took money from a girl who ended up sleeping out in the cold. I'd feel much better if you had somewhere warm to sleep tonight."

"Thanks! Hey, at least take this. It's not much," I handed him over five dollars. "I could afford some of the fair and still have enough. But keep this in your pocket. Don't let your boss or anybody take it, OK? Tell them your story and keep that for yourself. Or spend it on someone nice," I pointed at the picture taped to the dashboard.

"That's my girl, her name is Aurora. I'm thinking of proposing soon, I just need a little bit more money and then I can take her somewhere fancy and buy her a real nice ring."

"Then put that fiver towards it, like I said, it's not much but it'll get you that little bit closer."

"Thanks, love, that's really nice of you. I hope the place is alright. Actually, tell you what. I'm going to go over there to that vending machine and get a bottle of water. Go inside and get your room, when you come out just give me a little wave to let me know you got one OK, if you didn't I'll drive you somewhere else."

I looked down at his ID badge which was also hanging on the dashboard. "Thanks, Lenny," I whispered as I kissed his cheek. "I'll try not to be too long." I got out of the car and he followed. "Oh, and Aurora is a lucky lady," I smiled as I walked away.

I could hear him say something that sounded sort of like a "thanks" but I just wanted to get a room quickly so Lenny could get home to his girlfriend.

As I entered the reception building I could see that it was nice on the inside too. There were flowers all around, calm colours covered the walls and the furniture was all nicely polished. As I walked over to the desk, studying the room, a woman came into view. She was a short plump woman with bright blonde hair pinned up on her head.

"Can I help you dear?"

"I was wondering how much it would be to get a room for the night."

"Oh, you're just in luck! We have exactly two rooms left." She fiddled with the computer for a moment. "Yes, two rooms. For one of them it'll cost you $63."

I fiddled with my purse and luckily I had just enough money for one of those. Unfortunately I would have only $20 left in change. Shame, I could have paid poor Lenny some money. I then decided in fact that I would give him a little more, not much just another $5.

I swiftly handed her the money and took the key that she gave me. I said thanks over my shoulder as I left the room in a rush. "Hey, Lenny!" I called once I'd gotten outside.

"What's wrong?"

I jogged over to him and handed him over the money. "It's still not much, but I had more change than I thought and I can spare this $5, but like I said, keep it for you. Or spend it on Aurora, OK?"

"I will do, thanks!" He grinned happily then threw his arms around me. He whispered another thanks as he hugged me tightly.

"No problem, there's not many nice people like you who would help a stranger. It means a lot." I gripped him tighter then slowly let go.

We didn't say anything else. I think we both knew that we would talk for hours if we did. Two strangers in similar situations just trying to get by. I grinned at him as I walked away to locate my room.

My room was in fact in the block of rooms to the left of the reception building. It was on the second floor and closet to the stairs. When I went inside I could clearly see that it was as nice as the rest of the place. It looked like it had been cleaned fairly recently and there were even little chocolates on the pillows. I thought they only did those in hotels and fancy places.

I sat on my bed and unwrapped the chocolate from one of the pillows. I ate it while studying the room. There were two double beds (all rooms must have this because she didn't specify, or may the two rooms left were both the same), there was a small television set, a bathroom, a desk with some draws, a beside table with a lamp and a wardrobe.

Having inspected the room I put my bag on the bed opposite. There was no point in unpacking it, I wouldn't be here that long. Apart from my bag I left the second bed in its original condition. I decided that now would be as good a time as any to let Dom know I found a place, but wanting to avoid conversation I l just sent him a text. Other than that I just changed into something more comfortable and climbed into bed. I decided that maybe tonight wasn't the best night to go and see Jacob. I rolled over and closed my eyes. I thought about calling him but before I could I drifted off to sleep.

When I woke the next morning I was shocked at how well I'd slept. Considering how bad I felt yesterday after the Toretto's and that I hadn't been to see Jacob I expected to feel terrible. It was then that I remembered Lenny. He was so nice and selfless, maybe he was why I was able to feel better about the day I'd had.

Wanting to make more amends I grabbed my phone off of the bedside table. I noticed a text, which I assumed was from Dom, telling me that if I needed anything just to call. I deleted the text and didn't bother with it. I then dialed, put it on loudspeaker then let it lay on my chest as I leaned back against the headboard.

"Hello, how may I help you? This is-"

But I cut her off. "Hi, my name is Raine."

"Ah Raine!" I didn't recognise the woman on the other side of the phone but she obviously knew about me. "Yes, I'm assuming you're checking up on Jacob?"

"I am."

"Well, he's doing really well. He's advancing in the best way possible and we're very positive. Should I tell him you'll be visiting?"

"Oh, no, don't tell him! I'm not entirely sure when I can make it down. I don't want to disappoint him. Just let him know that I called and that I'm thinking of him."

"Of course I will. I'll tell him everything."

"Thank you for your time, I'll look forward to speaking to you soon."

"And you, Raine."

I hung up the phone and looked at the opposite wall from the moment. I didn't feel so bad now. Jacob was doing well so it's not like I didn't go and he got worse. I would make plans to go see him soon, but first I had to get myself more money.


	6. The Scary Thing

I wondered along the street and stopped outside one of the buildings. It was called Racer's Edge and it didn't look like it fitted in. The area honestly looked like it could do with a massive make over but this particular place wasn't like that. It was gleaming and shiny.

Unfortunately I noticed that there didn't seem to be much inside. The windows were full but past that around three quarters of the shop was empty. I'd never get what I needed for Jacob. I needed something, anything. I hadn't been for almost a week and I had to make it up to him.

"Well look who it is."

I whirled round to see Jesse coming down the street. "Oh, hello."

"I wouldn't expect to see you at Racer's Edge. I got the impression that you didn't know much about cars or even that you raced."

"I raced once, it's not really my thing. That's probably because I can't actually drive, it was lucky I didn't crash. I prefer to watch."

"What are you doing here then?"

"I, erm, I was looking for something… A gift for a friend but it looks pretty empty inside."

Jesse laughed. "Don't be fooled. It's not normally like that. They just want to get rid of their stock, it's all old. They're getting in more state of the art equipment."

More state of the art? The place looked pretty flashy to me, but then again, what did I know? Jesse was right. I didn't know much about cars, and to be honest I didn't really care about them either. I only showed an interest because Jacob loved them. Don't get me wrong, I had fun while he went out about them and I loved to see people race. But I generally couldn't care less about cars.

"Fancy hanging out for a bit?" Jesse asked quietly. "I have to get some things, but after that I'm free… Sort of… I mean, it's just that I haven't seen you with anyone so I'm assuming everyone you know isn't around here... I just, I know what it's like to not have anybody. I had nobody before I met the team. So what do you say?"

I smiled and walked over to him. "I like you Jesse. Hanging out doesn't sound so bad." The thing that scared me most was that I meant it.

He smiled and entered the shop. I followed him close behind and surprisingly stayed quite close to him. I didn't trust him, and hell, I didn't really know him that well but I felt oddly intimidated by the shop.

As we walked towards the counter someone came into view. Jesse didn't say anything, just handed him a list. It looked a quite a long list, what the hell did he need all that for? Jesse and I waited quietly while the man went around the shop and collected everything for him. He was oddly fast at it. It wasn't long before we had a massive box in front of us.

As Jesse grabbed one of end of the box and thanked the man for his time, I grabbed the other end. Jesse didn't even realise till we had shifted it off the counter.

"Oh."

"I thought it looked a bit heavy," I smiled. "I might as well help."

"Oh thanks! Do you want to walk in front of behind?"

"How is your coordination?" I laughed.

"Bad," he frowned.

"Then I'll go up front."

As we walked out of the shop I had to look behind me every few seconds just to make sure I wasn't going to trip over anything.

"I noticed you didn't pay him," I said as I looked behind me again.

"Part of the shop technically belongs to Dom, so this is on his tab."

"So is this your stuff or his?" I asked as we went round the next corner.

"Well, we're all working on a car for somebody but I got freeway on design and stuff. So seen as most of it was my idea I got to choose the parts and the team are just helping me put it together."

"So explain to me," I said as we stopped and put the box down. "You all own a garage, but you don't just work on cars, you make them?"

"Well, not make them as such." Jesse unlocked the car we were at. "Put it this way. This particular client has a car, its old news, junk. It's like a sixty minute car… I- You know what a sixty _second_ car is, right?" I nodded to show that I did. "Well, this car could do sixty minutes on a good day, not sixty seconds. So obviously, it's shit." He loaded the box onto the backseat. "Now our client doesn't want a shit car, who would? So he brings it to us. We design it on my laptop, show him and if he likes it he pays us to order in the parts and fix it up for him."

"So, if he paid you," I started while getting into the car. "Then why did you put the money on tab and not pay up front?"

"It's quicker. Plus, if the client wants a refund we have most of his cash sat waiting. Dom never gives a full refund, just enough to keep the client happy. Most agree because they all believe we as a team deserve some money for our time no matter what the outcome is."

"So what happens if he asks for a refund? How do you pay for all the stuff you bought?"

Jesse started up the car and drove out of the side street before answering. "We race for the money, well Dom does, more guaranteed to get some that way. Or we just sell the car we were working on, someone is bound to like it even if the client doesn't. Plus, almost no one asks for a refund, it's just to be careful."

"Wow, for what I'm assuming is a small business, you guys have really thought everything through."

"Well, to be honest, we don't want our small business going downhill, so it makes sense that we try to protect it as best as can."

I smiled at that. No matter what I thought of the team you couldn't deny that they were smart. You also couldn't deny the fact that they worked well together. I guess that was one thing I would always respect about them, no matter what I felt, I would give them that at the very least.

"So where are we going?" I asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Well, I need to drop these off at the garage but they'll be packing up so I guess it's back to Dom's for a bit. Unless you don't want to go there…"

I didn't but I also didn't want to seem rude. "No, that sounds fine. I might not be able to stay too long anyway."

We spent the rest of the drive without talking. We just kept the radio at a steady volume and listened. Fortunately enough the ride wasn't that long, and as we pulled up I wondered for a moment if Jesse had gotten lost. Then I saw it, a small garage that's entrance was at the side of the building.

Jesse parked his car a bit away so I helped him with the box again. It didn't seem as heavy this time but that's probably because Jesse got hold of most of the box and found the need to tell me that he could handle it. I don't know why I helped after being told that, I guess he just looked too fragile.

"I'm starting to think you stalk us!" I heard Dom shout.

"No, you stalk me!" I called back. "I mean, think about it, I'm new, and I turn up at all these places and BAM there you are."

Dom grinned as we got closer. "Yeah, we just can't get enough of you."

"I don't mind bumping into you all the time," Leon called over his shoulder.

"Yeah, but who says I mind bumping into you lot?" I asked, putting the box down. "Maybe I'm sick of you all." I laughed but part of me meant it. I had this mind set, I know I wasn't supposed to like them. The scary thing was even though I knew that I felt myself being drawn to them.


	7. I Promise

I sat with my legs crossed on Dom's living room floor. My back was almost directly against the TV which was turned off. Sat across from me on the couch was Dom, leaning against him was Letty, he had his arm around her. Next to them Mia sat with her legs tucked under her. Leon, Jesse and Vince were all lying down on the floor.

I had pushed myself back towards the TV almost an hour ago when I felt self conscious about how close I was to them all. Over all, I'd been here for a good few hours. I tried not to count the exact amount of time I was there, but it was hard.

"So, Raine..." Dom started.

"Don't," I sighed.

"Come on, I didn't bring it up for over an hour."

"That's not the point, Dom."

"What if one of us asked you?" Vince smirked.

"Yeah, then you couldn't get angry," Leon said, obviously catching on to what Vince was saying. "Which means we could have this conversation five times before you could snap at us."

They were right, I'd asked Dom not to ask me again which meant if they were quick about the rest of them could all ask me the same thing. I steadied myself and sighed.

"OK, who wants to ask me."

To my surprise it was Letty who piped up. "Do you have anywhere to stay tonight, Raine?"

"No, Letty, no I don't." There was quite a sarcastic yet boring tone to our voices because we knew roughly how the conversation would pan out.

"Why don't you stay with us?"

"No, I really can't, thank you anyway."

"Oh come on," she laughed. "You get a room, a bathroom and a kitchen. We'll all clean up our own messes. We all take our time to clean the whole house every once in a while anyway. You don't need to do that by the way."

"That's not the issue."

"Then what is?"

"Rent. How am I supposed to pay? I barely have enough money for a room at a motel."

"Erm..." She was stumped.

"I'm in the diner on my own, you could help out. We'll take the rent out of your wages and give you the rest. You can also help me with the papers at the garage," Mia smiled.

"Thanks..."

"And even if you don't want to you'll eat with us till you get your first paycheck," Dom started. "I don't want you spending money on thing we already have, especially when you're low on cash."

"Oh, I couldn't."

"Yes, you can... Now is that all the bags you have?" Dom asked while pointing at my bag which sat next to me.

"Oh, yeah, I like to travel light."

He nodded to Jesse who instantly got up. He took my bag and gave me a reassuring smile as I went to grab it back. I smiled awkwardly and let him take it. I turned back to the rest of the room, we sat mostly in silence till Jesse got back.

"Where did you put my bag?" I asked him as he sat down.

"First room on your left when you go up."

"It's a bit small but it's the only spare room we have at the moment," Dom laughed.

"Yeah, with these losers here we're running out of space," Mia said while she gently kicked Vince's leg.

He responded by rolling over and grabbing her foot before she could retract it. He tickled it and she burst in to fits of laughter. Soon though she escaped his grasp, she then ran up the stairs with Vince in close pursuit.

"Are they...?" I asked.

"Together?" Leon laughed as I nodded. "No, but we all think it'll happen soon."

I looked over at Dom. I remembered Letty telling me how Mia was the most important thing in the world to him. I wanted to see his opinion on this.

He shrugged. "You would think I'd mind but I guess there's no one better for her than my best friend, right? Plus, he knows I'll break his neck if he breaks her heart."

"Good," I whispered.

"What?" Dom raised an eyebrow, I noted that the rest of them were looking at me.

"Not that you'd break his neck if that happens or anything, but that you feel that protective over her. Everyone deserves to have someone who would go to any lengths to protect them. I mean, I do believe that you have to look out for yourself but I also feel that it's nice to have at least one person."

Dom smiled. "I'm glad you think that's good. Do you have anybody like that?"

"I have somebody, but I don't think he'd be very good at protecting me," I whispered. "You know what, that reminds me, I said I'd meet somebody."

"Can I give you a lift?" Jesse yawned.

"No, Jess, you sit tight, I'll get a cab."

Jesse held out his hand. I wandered why but then I saw it. There was money in his hand. "Take it," he whispered as if he'd read my mind. "You helped me earlier by carrying that box, think of it as being paid for heavy labour."

"Jess, I..."

"Please. And if you don't think you deserve it afterwards you can... Erm... Make me breakfast tomorrow." He winked at me.

Before I could stop myself I ran over and kissed his cheeks. "Thanks," I whispered as I took the money.

I ran from the house before he or anyone else in the room could respond. I wiped my mouth as I took out my phone to call for a cab which turned up ten minutes later. As I climbed in I gave him the address and we were off.

"Are you sure you want to go that far, lady? I mean, it's two hours away."

"I would have taken the bus, but I don't feel like moving much till I get there."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

After that he left me to sit in the back of his cab. I did notice, however, that he kept looking in his rear view mirror at me.I tried to ignore it by looking out of the window and trying to think of what I'd say when I got there.

Unfortunately for me I got there sooner than I imagined. I thanked the driver and paid the fare before slipping out. I walked straight through the front doors without really looking at anything. I turned the familiar corridors till I reached the room I knew I wanted.

"Raine!"

I knew by the voice that it was the woman who I had spoken to on the phone in the motel. I planted a smile on my face and turned around.

"Hi."

"I'm Rosie, we spoke on the phone. I recognised you from all the photos."

"Oh, those old things," I laughed. "I would've put up new ones, but those are his favourites."

"I can see why, you both look really happy in them."

"How has he been?"

"He's been real good," Rosie sighed. "Well, as good as he can get. He'll be happy you're here."

I nodded and opened the door. I stared at him lying in his bed. The covers pulled up to his chest like always, his eyes closed and the same stiffness was there. I noted there were less machines hooked up to him. I smiled at that, it meant he was getting better.

"Hey, Jake," I whispered, knowing that I wouldn't get a reply.

I made my way over and sat in the chair next to his bed. I studied him like I always did. The dark brown locks that he treasured had grown long, they were now almost at his shoulders. I couldn't bring myself to cut them in case I did it wrong. I knew in a few weeks I would have to get someone to come and do it. His skin was a bit paler than it used to be but that was only natural considering his condition.

"How are you both doing?" Rosie asked as she poked her head into the room.

"Rosie, in your opinion, do you think he'll ever get better?"

"Well, his injuries aren't as bad as they were six months ago," she said as she came into the room and sat next to me. "He's gotten better at a much faster rate than we ever thought, so I don't know, Raine. Maybe he'll get better and wake up soon. I can't tell you that he will though, because I don't know. Personally though, I think that he'll be fine."

"You don't have to worry," I whispered. "I won't take your word too seriously so you don't have to be afraid if he ends up not being fine."

With that she stood and pulled the curtains around the bed. "To give you both a little more privacy." And then she was off to help the other patients who needed her.

I moved when she was out of the room. Firstly I took a picture of him on my phone, I had a feeling I would need it later. I then laid myself down on his bed. I made sure not to tug on any wires or to move the covers from his body. I put one of my hands under my head and then stretched my other arm across his body to hug him.

"You're my best friend, Jake. So I promise you, I don't like them, I just need to get close so I can find out what happened. So I can make them pay."


	8. Not A Care In The World

**Sorry, I've been away for the past week so I haven't had time to update. To all those who are still interested, thank you! Please note that no matter how long it takes I **_**hate**_** to leave stories unfinished so if it's on this site then I **_**will**_** update. Also, I'm sorry this is a short chapter but I couldn't bring myself to extend it any further.**

I looked up at the house as I stepped closer to it. From the outside it looked like any other house. But from inside it was filled with a group of people that for some reason I liked but knew that I shouldn't. I seemed to study the house very closely as I walked towards it. I don't know what it was, but it kept me sane.

As I entered the house and closed the door I heard people move. All of them must have heard me and made their way over to see who it was. I stood for a moment to see if they came closer. When they didn't I went into the lounge.

They were all stood up or edging towards the front door. I smiled weakly at them. Some of them sat back down again looking relieved but a couple of them stayed standing.

"Where have you been?" Leon asked franctically.

"Yeah, we've been worried!" Jesse almost shreeked.

"Oh come on, it's not that la- _Shit_." It was after 10, I hadn't noticed. "Sorry, I didn't realise how late it had gotten."

"Don't worry," Dom spoke up above the others. "You're OK and that's the main part, but what _were_ you doing for you to lose track of time?"

"Can I make myself a cup of coffee before I tell you?"

Dom just nodded so I told those who are standing to sit. I made my way into the kitchen. I counted in my head in order to calm myself down. This was it. I was going to tell them about Jacob and they would remember him. This was it.

I slowly made myself a big mug of coffee making sure to add in a ridiculous amount of sugar. Sweet things always made me feel so much better. After it was done I took a sip before going back into the lounge where everyone was situated.

I sit down on the floor in front of the turned off television. I let them draw themselves closer. Each of them stayed silent and waited for me to begin.

"I was at the hospital. St Mary's."

"Why were you there?" Mia asked in horror.

"How come you were gone so long? I didn't think hospital visits took that long," Vince grumbled. "Unless it's bad, shit, it's bad isn't it?"

"The hospital is two hours fom here. I was visiting a friend, he's been in there for 6 months now and because I don't get to go as much as I'd like I tend to stay for ages when I do go, I lose track of time."

"6 months? That's horrible," Letty commented while shaking her head in disbelief. "What happened to him?"

"Well," I started. "He got involved in something, I can't be sure what it was but it went wrong. The people who were on the receiving end of what he did weren't too happy. They found him, probably because he was on his own, the people he worked with were in a group, harder to target. Anyway, they beat him up. He has injuries across the whole of his body and they vary in surverity. He slipped into a coma hours after being admitted to hospital, doctors said it's the best thing for him, problem is he's still like that now."

"Oh my God," Vince breathed out slowly.

"But he's gotten better, right?" Leon asked confidently.

I nodded slowly. "Yes, but not much. He's not monitored as closely anymore but he's still got a long way to go. I can tell the doctor's don't think he'll wake up, but I try not to dwell on it."

"What was he like?" Mia smiled. "Before I mean."

"He was the most wonderful guy in the entire world, everybody loved him. You all would've gotten on well with him. He was into cars, in fact he raced. He's my best friend, like a big brother to me. He had the most amazing hair, it was all fluffy but yet not too fluffy. He's pretty too, seriously, any guy would be intimiated by him and every girl would want him."

"He sounds perfect," Mia sighed.

"He is," I laughed.

"What was his name?" Mia asked quietly.

"Jacob Collins, but I call him Jake more."

For a moment I swear I could see Mia's face change but she just shrugged and said "I wish this hadn't happened to him, he sounds nice and it would've been lovely to meet him."

I nodded. "I'm glad you think that."

The group give me a few words of advice on how to cope, some said how they were sorry and they spoke with me about it for a few moments. I thought I was getting somewhere with it. Then suddenly things changed. Soon conversation turned to other things. Within about ten minutes they had forgotten that I'd even mentioned Jacob in the first place.

In retaliation to this I let my now empty mug of coffee role out of my hands. I jumped up and stormed out of the house. I ran down the street and let the scenery blur around me. I didn't slow till I found a set of bushes near the end of the street. I tucked myself inside it's hollow shape and drew my knees up.

As I sat in there I could hear them shouting my name. They seemed distant so I knew that they didn't stray too far from the house. I just waited quitely where I was.

"You do know they're shouting your name, right?"

"What?" I looked up to see Hector with his head and body titled slightly so that he could see me. "Oh, hi Hector. Yeah, so do you mind hiding too or pretending like you don't see me?"

In response to this he crouches down and hides inside the bushes with me. He looked a lot more uncomfortable than me because of his height but he doesn't complain. He just sits there and waits. He doens't even ask me why we're here, but I tell him anyway.

"I think I overreacted."

"Talk me through it," he said softly.

"Well, I'd just been to visit my friend Jacob in the hospital." I thought I saw the change on his face like the one I saw on Mia's but I ignored it. "He only has me and everytime I tell people about him they forget about him after just a few minutes. It's like he doesn't exist, like he doesn't matter."

"Let me guess," Hector smiled. "You told them, they spoke about it but very quickly the conversation turned."

"I guess they were one person too many," I lied.

"Well, trust me on this. Right now it seems like they don't care, but that's because they can't connect. They barely know you, Raine. If you'd been here longer then they would let you talk for years without stopping about Jacob. Trust me, they care, but they don't want to get attatched till they can trust you completely."

"I don't know," I said uncertiantly.

"Turst me," Hector smiled. "I know you have no reason to trust me, but try it this once. Just, go back to them, tell them what you told me and they'll understand. If worst come to worse then I'm always here if you want to talk."


	9. Stick To The Plan

It took me a few more hours before I could go back into the house. Hector stayed with me, even after his ride came and went he still stayed. Part of me figured it was because he needed to speak to Dom but another part told me he stayed with me because he wanted to. I knew Hector wouldn't have been involved in what happened so I could only like him.

When I did get back it was like a repeat of when I returned from the hospital earlier that day. I walked even slower through the front doors this time and I didn't pause before going into the longue. Hector convinced me it would be best to get it over and done with now rather than later.

Like before everyone was concerned, only this time they all got up from their seats and every one of them edged closer to me.

"What the hell happened?" Leon asked. Even with his stern tone it was clear he was only worried.

"Yeah… Did we do something?" Dom asked.

"Guys, no, you did nothing. Well you did, but it wasn't your fault."

"Tell them," Hector encouraged.

I sighed before explaining to them what I had to Hector. I told them in slightly more detail and tried to make it more believable. When I was done none of them said anything. I stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, too afraid to move.

Dom looked at the others and when they all nodded he said, "we're sorry, we didn't mean for you to think of it that way, but what Hector told you was right…"

"But now that we know how much it means to you," Leon started.

"You can talk to us any time you like, no matter when, we don't mind."

"Even I don't mind," Vince laughed.

It seemed to crush me from the inside out to think that these people wanted to help me. I was hoping that they would accept my apology and move on, but no, instead I received help from them. This was not what I wanted. I need them to trust me, to let me in, but I don't want them to get too close. I don't want to make this harder for myself.

"Thanks, it means a lot," I lied.

Suddenly everyone went to work around me. Leon guided me over to a seat while Hector pulled Dom to the side. Mia asked me if I wanted in a drink and as soon as I'd said yes she instantly went and made me it. The others just sat close by, every single one of them seemed genuinely worried, it hurt.

"Guys, I don't want to talk about," I whispered.

"Are you sure?" Letty asked.

"Do you really want to listen?" I asked, but smiled to show that I was only playing.

"I was never good at advice, so I'm probably not the best to go to," Letty asked. "But I am good at listening."

"I totally repeat what she just said," Vince laughed.

"Yeah, re-think the listening part," Leon chipped in.

Vince stopped laughing and his eyes narrowed as he looked at Leon. "OI, watch it you, I'm not afraid to hit your ass in front of the lady."

"I didn't know you were into that sort of thing, V. When did you start batting for the other team?" he teased.

At this Vince got up and prowled towards him, "you're dead."

"Aw, come on, V! We still love you."

Soon Vince was chasing Leon throughout the house shouting threats as Leon continued to tease him. I laughed as Letty shook her head. Mia returned with my drink and I took it happily from her with a thanks.

"Sorry it took so long, good thing you wanted a cold drink."

"Why did it take you so long?" Letty asked as I took the drink.

"There was trouble at Racer's Edge."

"What sort of trouble?" Jesse asked, now getting involved.

"Well, it was broken into. Luckily the new stock hadn't arrived so there wasn't much there but they pretty much cleared the place out. Harry is in big trouble, Hector said he would ask Dom if he could pay his tab as soon as, with the amount he owes it could help Harry out till the next stock finally does arrive."

"Can Dom pay it?" Letty asked, she sounded almost worried.

"Yeah, because we can all chip in some," Jesse commented.

"He thinks he can cover half just now, and don't forget you've got a big payment coming for that car you're all working on, he was going to give some of that money to Harry."

"Hey, we just heard what happened, is Harry OK, Mia?" Vince said. He and Leon were no longer arguing.

She shrugged. "I don't think he was there, he went home earlier than usual."

"Can we help?" Leon asked.

"Just do a good job on that car so we can make enough money to help him out."

They all nodded in agreement, they seemed to all decide that they would help out. Were these really the people I thought they were? Had I got the wrong people? But I shook those thoughts from my mind. These were the right people, I told myself. I was right.

"Thanks, man. I appreciate this." Hector said as he came out of the kitchen.

"Let us know if he needs more help, OK?"

"Course, course. Are you sure I can take this for now?"

"Yeah, man, I trust you. Just make sure he puts somewhere safe," Dom warned.

Hector nodded as he put the money in an inside pocket of his jacket. He came over to me before he left. For some reason I stood up. He put a hand on my shoulder and kissed the top of my head. He smiled reassuringly at me and handed me a piece of paper. Before I could say anything he walked away.

As he left and the others discussed Racer's Edge I looked at the paper. It was Hector's phone number. He had meant it when he said I could talk to him. I smiled at it, for some reason I wanted to cry. Instead I held back the tears and tucked the piece of paper into my pocket.


	10. The Good Samaritan

The next day Dom had received a call from Harry. He asked if Jesse was available to install some new security equipment. It was then that Dom said the whole team would be down to help out. I agreed to come along to help as best as I could. I didn't know this Harry but I felt bad that he was in the trouble he was.

When we got there the place was a mess. The broken window had been replaced but there was piles of glass (where Harry had obviously swept up), shelves tipped over and the reaming stock scattered everywhere.

"What can we help with?" Dom asked.

"Oh, well the ladies don't have to do any work," Harry said nicely. "But if they do want to help they could go through the stock that's left and see if any of it is still good. And the rest of you can help me sweep up and build the new shelves."

"I'll sweep up," I suddenly said. "I don't know much about the things you sell so I won't know if it's good or not."

"Oh, a new face..." he said as if he'd only just noticed me. "You must be Raine, I'm Harry."

"Yeah, I've heard all about you," I smiled.

"Well, thank you, Raine. There's a broom and stuff in the office just over there." He pointed to a smallish door at the back of the room.

I just nodded and went to get what I needed while the others started talking. I paid no attention to them as I swept up the glass. I made sure to put them in a box instead of a black bag just in case it ripped. When I was close to finishing Hector came in, he made his apologizes for being late and then came and grabbed another broom. He started sweeping as he smiled at me.

"I'm almost done, you don't have to," I smiled.

"They'll kick my ass if I don't do something." He rolled his eyes. "And plus, I want to anyway."

"Well, these last few bits are the hardest," I winked.

"At a girl," he laughed. "We'll make drinks for everyone afterwards. I brought some stuff with me and there's a little kitchen."

"There's a kitchen?"

"Yeah, well, sort of... See that door over there?" He asked, I nodded. "There's a small bed, a little kitchen area and a small bathroom area."

"Not really something you would expect in a place like this... Does Harry use it?"

He thought for a moment. "I think he used to, like when he was working late. But he has a family so he probably only uses it if he's expecting deliveries really early. Traffic can be bad, he doesn't want to miss it," he laughed. "Come on, let's make some drinks."

Hector went and asked everyone want they wanted while I boiled the kettle. When he got back it was easy enough, everyone wanted either cola or coffee. Hector poured the cola while I made the coffee. As he was done first he took the drinks out to everyone.

Once we had our drinks we went and sat behind the desk on some stools. We leaned against the counter, drank and watched the others. Neither of us said anything, it was nice. I didn't feel like I had to talk with him, it was like silence was acceptable.

"I heard you boys were thinking of a heist," Harry suddenly said.

"Excuse me," Letty said with an unimpressed look.

"Sorry, boys and _lady_," Harry winked.

"I'd rather be called a boy," she laughed as she picked up a new part and studied it.

"But I'm right, you are going on one, right?"

"We were considering it," Dom spoke in a defensive tone. "Why?"

"It's not got anything to do with me, has it? 'Cause I heard this was a new job, nothing you've been thinking of doing for a while."

"Well, we were going to give you some of the money," Dom said honestly. "But I need some money anyway..."

"If you do this, I don't want any of the money," Harry warned. "You keep it all for yourself."

"Come on, Harry. It's a clean cut job and we got some guy to help us," Dom said urgently.

"Some guy?"

"Yes... He wants to come on the heist, and he said that he doesn't want much money, just the thrill."

"Yeah," Vince laughed. "And say the job goes bad and we don't hit the mark... We come home with nothing, right? Well any outside man on the job with us would ask for money to make up for his wasted time. This guy wants nothing. So if we don't hit the mark, we don't have to lose anything else."

"Then what are you going to do with him?" Harry asked curiously. "You're a team, I don't see you all bringing in a new member."

"We'll go our separate ways," Leon said simply. "Won't hear from him again."

"What?" I couldn't stop myself.

"Huh?" Leon said as he turned around.

"Is that true?" I focused on Dom as I came round the counter. "You're going to bring him in on this job and then just drop him?"

"Well, yeah, it's the terms he wants to work with it."

"And if he hadn't brought those terms up," I started. "Would you have?"

"Possibly… Look, Harry's right, we're a team, we don't just bring in anybody. It's not that we don't care, it's just if people want to partner with us then they need to understand that it's only for the heist, nothing more," he explained.

"What if the heist goes wrong and that partner is hurt? Would you still drop them?"

"If they were injured during the heist we would stick about, see how they're doing. We would then leave when they were better. If they were injured after the heist and after we'd cut communication then there's no way of us knowing."

"What happens if you did find out they were injured after?" I enquire.

"We would check up on them, I guess."

"You guess?" I almost roar.

Before I knew what was going on Dom had turned around so that when I grabbed the broom and swiped down with it, it struck Dom on the back, right between the shoulder blades. He buckled and fell in a heap on the floor. He rolled over and looked up at me in horror.

I then started to hit his chest, stomach and sides with the broom. Soon Leon and Vince had grabbed one of my arms each. I tried to struggle against them and in turn lost grip of the broom. I started shouting things at him, things about how he was a horrible person and did the most disgusting things. I then continued to fight the restraints until I was free.

Once I was I threw myself at him. I started to kick and punch at him, anything to make him feel pain, to feel the pain I had been feeling for the past 6 months. I was no longer shouting now, just crying as I moved. I could feel them all watching and drawing closer, it was Hector who grabbed me.

"Hey, hey," he whispered softly. "It's me, you can stop."

"It's all his fault!" I cried out.

"What is?" Dom mumbled as he got up into a sitting position.

"Jake," I breathed.

"What about him?" Dom asked. "I don't understand."

I nodded at Hector to show I was calm. Once he released me I dug my phone out of my pocket. I found a picture of Jake before the accident.

"Meet Jacob," I said as I held up the phone to Dom's face.

"_Fuck__…_" he breathed out, his eyes wide with horror.


	11. The Necklace

"_Junior._"

"What?" I asked as Dom studied the photo.

"That's Junior."

"His name is Jacob!" I cried.

"To you he's Jacob, to us he's Junior."

"Why Junior?"

Dom sat up properly. "Because of how young he was. He was younger than all of us except Mia. It was a running joke but the name sort of stuck."

"Well, Jacob is now lying in hospital, he has been for 6 months." I changed the picture of my phone to the one of him in his hospital bed. "Do you recognise him now, Dom?"

I could see Dom wince. "Yes."

I move away from Dom, I let the phone drop out of my hand and onto the floor. The only two people in the room that I don't feel any hatred towards are Hector and Harry. Knowing this I chose to stand near Hector. To my surprise he puts an arm around me.

"Junior," Mia mumbled to herself as she picked up my phone. As she looked at it her skin turned pale and she dropped it as her hand came up to cover her mouth. "Oh, God."

"Mia, it's OK," Vince coos as he puts his arms around her.

"Don't." Mia pushed him away and came over to me. "Your necklace, let me see it."

"My necklace?" I asked, taken back.

"Yes. I won't touch it. I just need to see what it looks like," she explained.

I was confused but I still took my necklace out from under my shirt. "There."

She sighed with a smile. "He told me about you. Never mentioned your name, he wanted to do all that when we met. He said I could trust you if you had that, you could trust me because I had this."

She then pulled her own little necklace out. She let it rest on her chest. It was identical to mine. Both were a star shape and at the end of every point sat a small blue stone. It was Jacob's one, we had bought them when we were kids. I couldn't believe that I hadn't noticed that he wasn't wearing it.

"That belongs to Jacob," I whispered.

"Yes. He told me that if I had it then he would have to come back for me, or if you showed up looking for him then you would know that it was safe here."

"But it wasn't for him, was it?"

"We didn't know," she whispered. I could see tears appearing. "Honestly, we didn't. I just figured he didn't want to know about me anymore."

"Why did you keep the necklace then?"

"Because it was all I had left of him," she smiled. "Just because he didn't want me, doesn't mean I didn't want him."

"So, what? All of you didn't know this had happened to him. Even though you know who he is now..."

"I barely spoke to the guy," Leon admitted. "I only spoke to him leading up to heist, before that he was either with Mia or Dom. Or I was busy."

"I thought he'd decided to keep his distant, it was a big job," Dom muttered.

"Same here, man." Vince agreed. "Plus, I didn't exactly like seeing him and Mia around... Together..."

"He was nice," Jesse mumbled. "He acted like he was all interested in my computer side to things even though it was obvious he wasn't. I just, I just thought he finally lost interest."

Letty laughed. "Not being funny, but he took up a lot of Dom's time, I was just happy to have him back that it didn't seem odd that we hadn't heard from Junior."

"I don't believe you all, but..."

"Wait." Mia froze. "If you already knew that we knew him then why are you here?"

"I wanted revenge. I wanted you to feel what I had been feeling for the past 6 months."

"But," Leon said. "We didn't hurt him, Michael and his team would have done..."

"Michael?"

"Michael Arnold," Vince explained. "Nasty piece of work. Making it hard for people round here to make an honest living. It's why he was our target."

"He had a bunch of stuff that couldn't be traced," Jesse went on. "Made him the perfect mark."

"It did?" I asked.

"Well," Letty smiled. "No matter how much we took he had no way of tracing it back to us because they're untraceable. Also, they're all illegally imported so he couldn't go to the police."

"So what did you all do with the stuff you stole?"

"Sold some of it," Letty smiled. "Gave that money to the community. The rest, we just dumped."

"All we wanted," Leon explained. "Was to make him suffer."

"Then how did he know about Jacob?" I asked.

"That was the downside of him being our mark," Leon went on. "He has men in different places. It's difficult to know where they are so there was a chance that any of us could've been targeted afterwards.

"He knew that risk," Mia said sadly. "They must've gone after him because he was alone."

"I figured that part," I sighed.

"What were you going to do when you found us? For you revenge," Dom asked. "Because if it had anything to do with the cops then please don't get Mia involved. She had nothing to do with the heist so therefore had nothing to do with him getting hurt."

"There's one way I could not call the police on all of you."

"Shit, fuck, tell us how, I am not going to jail!" Vince said urgently.

"Help me get back at Michael."

"_What?_" Vince gasped. "_Are you crazy_? It was dangerous enough the first time. Add a personal motive then it's twice a dangerous. Give me the phone now, I'll call the cops on me myself."

"Please," I begged. "Look, for some reason I like you guys, that shows me I can trust you all. And Mia has Jacob's necklace, that means I can definitely trust her."

"Who else can you definitely trust?" Dom asked.

"Mia, Hector..." I started. "But if Mia can vouch for you all then I'll extend that trust."

"I never met your friend," Harry spoke for the first time. "So you have no right to trust me, but believe me when I say that these are good people."

Hector tightened his arm around me. "He's right, they can be trusted."

"I vouch for them too," Mia smiled. She touched her necklace, Jacob's necklace. "Trust me."

"OK, I trust you guys, does that mean you'll help me?"

I watched as the team looked at each other. They all seemed to trade specific looks. I stood in silence as I watched in fascination. It was like they were having their own private conversation. I could see that they were weighing out the good against the bad. The only people not involved in this was Harry and Hector.

Finally Dom turned to look at me. "So here's what we're gonna do."


	12. Bye Bye Michael

**This is a reupload because I needed to change a few errors I had made. Sorry! But I am also uploading the next chapter as well. So hopefully there won't be too much re-reading :3 Enjoy!**

Dom had gone on to explain the plan but I stopped him before he could really get into it. I suggested that we continue to help Harry out with the shop because it wasn't fair for him (and possibly Hector) to clean the place up by themselves. In the end we all agreed to help out.

Now we were sat on chairs around the shop. All the shelves were up and what stock was remaining was left on them, other than that it looked pretty empty. There was just idle chat amongst us, nothing more.

Dom was the first to go back to the first intended conversation. "So this plan of mine… It's a little out there and possibly a bit crazy but I need you all to hear me out, OK?" Everyone nodded. "Raine?"

"Yeah, OK," I whispered.

"Well first of all our main focus is to get Michael done for GBH," Dom started. "But the best way to do so is to get him stuck in the act."

"And how the hell are we so supposed to do that?" Vince asked.

"Do any of you remember Jason?"

All of them nodded. "What about him?" Leon asked.

"He's crazy as hell, will do anything for a bit of cash but he's not stupid either," Dom explained. "He's been a little strapped for cash lately so I suggest we give him a ring. We ask him to help us break into Michael's garage and stay there. When Michael gets back he'll have make no hesitation in hurting Jason."

"That's too dangerous!" I cried out.

"Wait," Dom whispered. "We'll have surveillance set up around the place… Miles from the garage. We'll see them coming and call the cops early, they'll get there before he can do any real damage. With the money we give Jason he'll have enough to pay for medical expenses and still have some left over."

"He'll just get out of it," Jesse piped up. "He always does."

"Not this time," Dom said. "He only ever got away with things because he was never caught in the act. There was never any proof that he was there, but if he were to attack an innocent person who did nothing wrong and got caught… Well, it should be a clean cut case."

"But Jason's breaking and entering," Mia picked out the flaw.

Dom thought about it for a moment. He then took out his phone and dialled. While he spoke he wondered around the shop. There were moments of silence where he would just listen. In the end he hung up and sat back down.

"That was Leroy," Dom said. "His friend owns a bar not far from Michael's garage. His goons go there once a week and get completely wasted, and I know a little pick pocket." He looked over at Hector.

"I don't know if Andy will do it," Hector started but when Dom raised his eyebrows he continued. "Fine, he will, but he's not cheap."

"Don't worry about the cost," Dom said. "We'll get Andy to slip their keys away, we'll make a copy and slip them back. That way when we go into the garage we'll flip on some lights… It'll just look like Jason was a concerned citizen."

"When do they go to the bar?" Hector asked.

"Tonight. It's also tonight that Michael goes back to the garage, apparently he does some dodgy dealings."

"I guess I'll call Andy," Hector sighed as he got up and went to the corner.

"Why don't we just get him on the dodgy dealings?" Mia enquired.

"We could, but he won't get as long as he would for GBH," Dom explained.

"I don't know," I whispered. "It seems too dangerous."

"Tell you what, Leon, call Jason," Dom ordered. "We'll see what he says if he agrees to it then we'll go ahead with the plan, if he doesn't then we we'll do it the other way."

"I guess that's better," I admitted.

"How much should I offer?" Leon asked as he got up.

"No limit, let him make the offer if you have to, OK?"

Leon nodded and left the shop. And the rest of the team kept quiet while Dom continued to think about the plan. While he was doing so Hector came back over and sat down.

"Andy will do it," Hector said while passing him a piece of paper. "That's how much he wants."

"Cheaper than I thought he would be," Dom admitted. "So that's that part sorted."

"So, let me get this straight," I started. "Tonight Andy goes to the bar, he gets the keys off one of the men and copies it before slipping the originals back. He then gives us the keys. We get ready for later tonight and set up surveillance near Michael's garage. Jason then unlocks the door, discards the key and turns on a couple of lights so he has a story for being in there. He then waits and when we see Michael coming we warn Jason and then call the cops. Hopefully they'll arrive after Michael starts beating him up but before he does too much damage, right?"

"Sounds about right," Dom nodded. "If Jason is up to it of course."

"How do we contact each other?" Jesse said. "I mean if we use phones they can trace the calls. They'll know Jason was warned, that he was up to something."

"Radios," Harry spoke for the first time. "Use radios. Jason only needs an earpiece."

"Won't they see it?" I asked.

"Well, they're not exactly big… Plus, Jason has long hair it can easily be covered up."

"It could work," Jesse admitted. "But I would make sure he turns it off as soon as we've warned him. Even if he takes it out. We can't risk it falling out or interference."

"OK, so that's sorted," Dom said. "Anything else that needs rethought?"

"We can't go to the hospital," I announced.

"What? When would we have done that?" Vince asked.

"Jason is your friend, right, Dom?" I asked as Leon came in.

"Yes… Why?"

"Well, if the cops don't get there when we think… Well, he might be in pretty bad shape. No matter what he'll go to hospital, but we can't go see him till we're called in."

"Why not?" Leon gasped.

"Because how would we know he's there? He'll be on his own. If we show up randomly and know about it that's going to look weird. Michael will be waiting for us. We need them to call us and tell us what happened," I explained. "And we have to be discrete about it. We can't afford Michael knowing we know him. It could come out worse on all of us… You know I'm right Dom."

"She is," Dom admitted. "We'll discuss it with Jason. If we have to we'll check in on his sister. She's the next of kin, we'll say we were looking for him, have a car we want to sell quickly… Then she'll tell us about Jason."

Leon bit his lip. "I don't like it, but it does seem logical."

"Does that mean he'll do it?" Mia asked.

Leon nodded. "He's prepared." He handed Dom another piece of paper. "We settled on that."

"I don't think I've spent so much money in one day," Dom laughed.

"It's not going to cause problems, is it?" I asked.

"Of course not," Dom reassured me.

* * *

A few hours later, we had excused ourselves from Harry's, we were now sat around the Torettos. Everyone had gotten ready for tonight's events. The team were reluctant to let me come along but they soon agreed that I could come.

Now we were just waiting on Andy to bring us the key. Once he had Dom would give him the rest of the money (he had given him a deposit earlier). Without that key then the plan would never work. If it looked like Jason had broken into the garage then Michael had a reason to hurt him. He would still do time but months at the very least, not even that with the amount of money he has.

When Andy did walk into the longue we all jumped up. He held the key back till Dom gave him all the money. He warned Andy that if it was a fake then he would hunt him down. Andy swore on his life that it was real and ducked out of the house as soon as possible.

To make the plan work we split up. Jesse, Leon and Mia went straight ahead. They made sure to stay a few miles from the garage in the direction that Michael would come. They were the ones to call Dom and then Dom would get a hold of Letty, it would be like a chain of communication.

Letty would be in a car closest to the garage in case something went wrong, that way she could intervene at any time. Vince, Dom and I would be in the other car. We'd be near the entrance to the garage grounds. I couldn't understand why on Earth we had to be in such an awkward place or why it was us there in the car but I went with it.

Letty radioed our car and Leon's car in order to tell us that Jason was there and had turned on the lights. We then lay in wait for Michael and his goons to return back. Surprisingly enough we weren't there for long before Leon radioed us to tell us that Michael was coming up, almost instantly Vince was on the other radio to tell Letty so she could warn Jason.

We had to sit in wait and wonder if Jason had been warned. I felt my stomach tighten when a group of cars drove past ours. I wanted more than anything to radio them all and tell them it was over, to get Jason out of there before Michael arrived.

Things didn't really help when sudden shouts came over the radio. I tried to exit the car but Vince pulled me back and wrapped his arms around me. I now understood why I was stuck in the car with them. I grabbed at the radio, neither of them stopped me from doing it.

"Letty!" I cried down the radio. "Help him, please!"

"Raine, I'm sorry." I could hear the pain in her voice.

"Leon?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm here…" He hesitated to answer.

"Please," I begged.

"The cops are on their way, I promise. He'll be fine, it probably sounds a lot worse than it is."

"Jake," I whispered.

"It's not Jake," Vince whispered in my ear as Leon said it over the radio.

"I need to help him…"

Dom turned my head to face him. "Raine, it's not Jake, OK? Jason was prepared for this, he'll be fine."

I seemed to snap out of it but the shouting didn't stop, it soon turned to screams but before I could react the police came zooming around the corner. They had flashing lights but no sirens. With any luck Michael and his goons would never even notice till it was too late.

None of us moved, we all stayed completely quiet. Soon the cops came out with Michael and his goons in handcuffs. They were all put into cop cars and vans. Jason was soon brought out on a stretcher, none of us could see how bad he was. I wanted more than anything to go and check on him but I stuck to what I said earlier.

Once they're all gone we leave. When Vince put his arms round me to stop me leaving the car he had also pulled me onto his lap. I didn't bother moving. I stayed sitting on him and stared out of the window. He laid one hand on my leg and stroked my hair with the other. Soon I started crying.

My tears only stopped when Dom's phone rang. He picked it up swiftly. "What's the matter? Who is it?" He put it on loud speaker for us to hear then switched on the radio so the others could hear too.

"I'm Jason's friend," he explained. "I was called to the hospital. He asked me to let you know what happened to him."

"What do you mean what happened to him?" Dom asked, pretending not to know anything.

"He was, erm, he was beaten up not long ago. He's not long arrived here."

"How do you know about it then?" Dom asked curiously.

"I ended up in hospital after a bar fight, I was just leaving the ER when I saw them bring him in, but listen," he said. "He wanted me to tell you he was here but that he's fine. He's got a couple of broken bones and he's sore all over, but at worst he'll be stuck with a bad headache and few bruises for months to come. He then wanted me to check on the guy who beat him up."

"You know who did it?"

"A man named Michael apparently; cops have been after him for years. I heard that the case is going to court but its pretty clean cut."

"How so?" Dom pretended to sound surprised.

"Apparently Jason went into Michael's garage… He saw the lights on and the door was ajar, it was so late that he was worried something had happened but then Michael and his team showed up."

"Can they prove Jason's story?" This time Dom seemed genuine.

"Yes, well, I heard from a friend that there was no sign of a break in, it just seems like someone forget to lock up," he explained. "From the looks of things it was all Michael's fault, he had no reason to attack Jason, he wasn't provoked."

"What about CCTV?"

"Do you really expect a guy like Michael to have CCTV?" he laughed.

"No, you're probably right," Dom laughed. "I'll let you go sit with Jason, call us if anything changes, yeah? We'll come see him soon if we can get to it."

"No, he said not to bother, he'll come see your ass after," he laughed before saying bye and hanging up.

"Yeah, for his money no doubt," Vince laughed.

"We actually did it," Jesse cheered.

"Woo!" Letty shouted.

"See, he'll be alright Raine," Leon whispered.

"I guess so," I mumbled.

"I'll see you soon, OK?" he whispered. Everyone had gone silent now.

"OK…" I said, unsure.

"We'll do anything you want… I'll look after you, I promise."

"I believe you." And for the first time, I meant it.


	13. The Beach

**Sorry that this chapter is really short. I just couldn't bring myself to add more to it because of what I have planned next. Please enjoy anyway!**

I sat patiently in the back of the car. I was in Dom's car with him, Letty and Leon. Jesse, Vince and Mia were in the other car. I still had no idea where we were going and none of them would tell me. It had been a few days since Michael's arrest and he was still pulling strings to keep the court case going, I wondered if this was their way of keeping me distracted.

I stretched my legs out over Leon and let him play with my hand. I couldn't help but smile over at him.

"Where are we going?" I asked again.

"Just wait," Leon laughed.

"Yeah, don't be impatient," Dom said.

"I'm not being impatient, I just really want to know," I sighed. "Leon, please?"

"Nope," he smiled. "I'm not telling you so don't bother trying."

I crossed my arms and sulked back into the chair. My sour expression didn't last long when Leon grabbed my feet and tickled them. I squirmed and started howling with laughter. I tried to squirm and I sighed with relief when he finally stopped. I looked around and noticed it was because the car had stopped.

"The hospital?" I said as I looked around. I wasn't sure how to feel about this, I'd always been on my own.

"Well you haven't been for a while, I mean, you've barely left the house in almost a week," Leon explained.

I just shrugged and reluctantly led the team into the hospital. I took them up the elevator and down the familiar corridor to the room I unfortunately knew so well.

"Raine!"

"Hey, Rosie," I half smiled as the nurse came over.

"Oh. More visitors…"

"Yeah, they knew Jacob a while back and this is the first chance they've gotten to come," I explained. "How is he doing?"

"No better, no worse," she shrugged. "You know the drill."

"Unfortunately," I sighed. "But he's definitely not doing any worse?"

She shook her head and smiled. "Nope, he's pretty stable… I know your frustration but him being neutral is better than him getting worse."

"I know," I laughed. "I would just rather he got better."

"I have faith that he will," she said honestly. "I haven't been in yet to sort his covers and water the flowers. Do you want to do that or should I?"

"Oh no, go to the other patients, I've got Jake," I reassured her.

She just gave me a smile and waved goodbye to the team and I. Each of them asked about Rosie and I explained that she was Jacob's main nurse. Was the one to check on him the most.

When we did finally get there I tell the team to come in. I automatically go over and talk to him. I tell him that the whole team is here and even make sure to say their names. Afterwards I adjust the covers before pulling Mia over. I let her know that it's OK to sit with him and talk. He'd probably like it.

While she does this I go and sit over with Leon. I don't say much while we're here, I let the others do the talking. I just sat back and thought about how full the room was. It was never this full and it felt weird.

"Wow," Dom said while looking at his watch. "If we wanted to do that other thing I suggest we go."

"Other thing?" I asked curiously.

"Don't be so curious," Mia giggled.

"Yeah, just wait for the surprise," Leon laughed.

"What if I don't like surprises? "I asked honestly.

"Tough," they all said at once.

Each of us said goodbye to Jake, both Mia and I kissed his cheeks before leaving. I walked slowly out of the hospital this time. I couldn't for the life of me think where we were going.

* * *

A couple of hours later we were sat on the beach. I had to admit this was a surprise that I liked. It was nice and warm but there was a little breeze. The beach wasn't too hot so it didn't burn my feet. While we were there Jesse, Vince and Mia messed around by running across the sad and building castles. Leon and I sat further up the beach. I couldn't help but watch Dom and Letty walking hand in hand across the beach. It made me smile.

"What are we?" Leon suddenly asked.

I let the sand run through my fingers as I awkwardly tell him, "I'm not messing you about, Leon. I'm just afraid to put a label on this. I'd rather get to know you. I mean, I told myself not to get close to you guys, I was meant to hate you, so I guess I want to get used to knowing you and being able to like you before I put a label on it."

"So you like us? As a team."

"Yeah, I always did really, there was this strange attraction," I explained. "But I figured that was what Jake dragged into trouble. I couldn't fall for it like he did."

"Well, take all the time you want on getting to know me," he shrugged. "If it'll help I'm up for that."

By this point the rest of the team had come back. Vince was covered in sand, apparently they tried to bury every part of him except his head. I tried not to laugh when I saw him.

"So Raine, I was just thinking…" Dom said as he and the team sat down.

"About?"

"Why don't you stay permanently?" he suggested.

"As part of the team," Mia grinned.

"I'd love to," I said happily. "But if Jacob gets better then I'll have to find my own place."

"Well Jake would stay too," Mia giggled. "I mean, there's my room or your room. We'll let him choose."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I mean, won't it be crowded?"

"It's always crowded," Dom shrugged. "We'll get used to it."

"Plus, if it gets too crowded we can sort something out," Leon said softly.

Nothing more was said after that. The team wouldn't let me come up with excuses. I felt thankful really. It was never healthy for it to be mostly me and Jake so it was nice that we might actually have a family now. I tried to make myself the promise that I would try my hardest to get to know these people in my new mindset.


	14. Destruction

The day after the beach we went shopping for some stuff for my new room. We got some new sheets, covers, pillows, pillow cases, paint, wall art stickers and a rug for the floor. I didn't want any material stuff just yet because I wanted to get it all with my own money later. Plus, I already had enough to pay back.

Now we were all stood around in my room. We'd moved the wardrobe, draws and other units outside while putting the bed in the middle of the room with an old sheet over it. We stood trying to think of what to do with the walls.

"Before we do anything," I announced. "Here."

I went over to my bag which was just outside the room. I looked in the side pocket and recovered my wallet. I took out enough money for the stuff we bought plus extra to make up for my time staying here. When I came back into the room I handed it over to Dom.

"What's this for?" he asked as he counted.

"All of this," I explained. "And for letting me stay."

"Don't you trust us?" Dom asked.

"No, it's not that!" I insisted. "But I can't exactly go from not wanting to get on with you to letting you buy me stuff. It's a tiring excuse, but I used to tell myself to hate you... It's going to take some time to get used to this."

Dom looked at his team. "We can give you all the time in the world, but no more money."

"Oh, no, please. I'm used to paying my own way," I explained. "Let me now, at the very least let me give money to help with groceries or something."

"Why not give her a job?" Mia suggested.

"Huh?" Dom and I both asked.

"Well, if she works at the diner or garage then you can give her paychecks," Mia explained.

"Or better yet," Dom started. "When I give you your paycheck every month I'll take a little out before hand, that'll go towards bills and other such things."

"And you promise that you will do that, not pretend to take the money out?" I asked sternly. "Because if I find out you're lying then..."

"I help with the money," Mia said. "I'll make sure he does."

"And I will too," Letty agreed.

"Damn, can I just not do it so Letty will punish me?" Dom joked.

"I _won't_ punish you if you don't do it," she said in reply. "But, if you do promise to take the money out of each paycheck, I will _reward_ you instead."

He growled a little before kissing her. "Fine," he whispered. "I promise, Raine."

"Thank you," I smiled happily. "Now what shall we do with my room?"

"Well," Mia squealed. I'd discovered earlier that she liked to decorate. "We have pink paint, silver paint and black wall art... Although, bare in mind that the silver isn't too sparkly or in your face. So out of the silver and pink, which do you prefer?"

"Pink," I admitted. "That always surprises people, but I don't want too much pink, especially that bright shade... So silver."

"Tell you what then," Mia decided. "And stop me if you want, but I was thinking having the silver colour then make a border using the pink and then finally using the black wall art."

"But what would you use the wall art for?" Vince asked as he shook his head.

"Add to the border maybe," Mia shrugged. "Make it look more fancy, so it'll stand out."

"Paint the pink and silver first," Jesse said. "Then decide on the boarder later."

"I like Jesse's suggestion," I decided.

After that we all put some old clothes on. We then laid sheets down on the floor and opened up the tins of silver paint. I dipped my brush into it and made the first stroke. Now that it was up on the wall it looked different. It was white with a slight sparkle to it. It was really plain while still being incredibly beautiful. I nodded at the others who then also went to work on painting the walls.

Once that colour was up we went to get some snacks and drink while it dried. When it had dried we went back up and painted on the boarder. We used tape to help keep the lines straight and we made it so that it was halfway up the wall. It was a lot of work and we got a lot of colour over each other, but none of us could stop laughing.

"Now what do you want to do with the wall art?" Letty asked as she stepped back.

"I like the idea of putting it over the boarder so it stands out more," I chose.

Mia clapped her hands and grabbed the stickers. She handed us all one. We studied them at first while the boarder dried. Then we started with the oldest bit of pink paint. I was the first to peel mine, I laid it over the boarder. After that each of us added a sticker one at a time until the whole boarder was full.

After that we lifted the sheets off the bed and the floor. We then moved the bed back and laid the new fluffy black rug down. It was easy after that to bring the rest of the stuff inside. I even unpacked all my things.

"Well?" Dom asked as he put an arm around my shoulders.

I studied it for a moment or two. "I love it."

"Good," Vince huffed. "Because I refuse to decorate for the next five years at the least."

"Light weight," I giggled.

Before he could respond Dom spoke first. "I was thinking..."

"About?"

"So you can get used to being with us," he said. "We'll have more family nights, maybe you can come to parties and races and the such."

"Ew, more time with you lot?" I crinkled my nose up then smiled. "Sounds disgusting."

Earlier, after decorating my new room, we were all sat around the lounge. Dom had told us that he was going to have a party but because of me just moving in he had canceled it. We had all persuaded him otherwise and the party was back on.

I was now just finishing off getting ready. I'd chosen a flowy, knee length, pale blue dress. To accompany it I had black heels and some nice jewelry that I hadn't worn for a while. I studied myself in the mirror before pinning my hair up. I let the front hang down lose.

"Well look who it is," Hector said as I came down the stairs.

"I could say the same to you," I grinned.

He kissed my cheek and escorted me through the crowded house. "You look nice," he commented as we walked.

"Thanks, I thought I'd dress up," I blushed. "You don't look so bad yourself."

"These old things," he laughed as we entered the kitchen and he handed me a beer. "You definitely out shine me."

"I could never do that," I laughed.

"Hector," a man called. "How's it going?"

A group of men entered the kitchen. The one who had spoken was the tallest in the group, he had messy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. The second one was almost the same height but had dark features and wasn't as attractive. The third man reminded me a lot of Jesse but he looked more muscular, the fourth man again reminded me of Jesse but he was a lot taller. Were those two twins?

"It's going well," Hector grinned as he shook the man's hand. "I'd like you to meet my friend, Raine."

"I'm Jasper," the one who had spoken before said. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," I smiled politely.

"I'm Charlie," the muscular version of Jesse said.

"And I'm Sean," the taller version of Jesse added.

I couldn't help but laugh a little. "It's lovely to meet you both."

The fourth and final mind grinned at me. "I'm Rick."

"Nice to meet you, Rick," I smiled.

Once we were introduced Hector guided us over to a clear area in the lounge. We stood and sat around while we spoke to each. I got to know all of them and soon Jasper asked me to dance. I happily agreed but then Leon came along and asked to dance. Jasper was nice enough to wait.

"You look nice," Leon commented as we danced.

"So people keep saying," I whispered.

He just grinned and put his hands on my hips as we danced. A couple of times I leaned my head against his shoulder and moved closer to him. I knew I shouldn't have but it was nice. Unfortunately after the dance Leon must have really liked how close we'd gotten because he leaned down and kissed me.

I stared at him wide eyed as I pushed him away. I stood frozen for a moment before running for refuge into the kitchen. I leaned against the counter and took a deep breath. I hadn't meant to freak out but I just wasn't ready for that. I closed my eyes and decided to go and apologise to Leon.

"What the hell is your problem?" Leon shouted as he came into the kitchen.

"W-What?" I asked quietly.

"You _never_ mention me, ever. You don't ever acknowledge that there's something between us, when we saw Jake at the hospital you barely spoke about me, I let it go, but now this. Do you even care?" he growled.

"I..."

"Dont' bother, I don't want your excuses," he said harshly. "Your pathetic and I want nothing more to do with you. We're done."

He spat on the floor in front of me and stormed out. I gripped the counter harder and started to cry. I tried to call for him but nothing came out.


	15. Things Always Get Better

**A really short chapter but I wanted it to be based in the hospital for the whole thing and I couldn't bring myself to write too much. Even so, enjoy!**

It had been a couple of weeks since the incident at the party. Leon hadn't spoken to me since and I honestly believed he never would again. I couldn't blame him really. I had no reason to turn him down or push him away as fiercely as I did. I definitely over reacted and we both knew that.

I had tried since then to apologise but every time I walked into a room he would walk back out. Even if he didn't he wouldn't look at me. It's hard to talk to someone when they don't acknowledge that you even exist. It wasn't for lack of trying though. Even the team tried to help me with getting his attention.

The only upside was that it hadn't ruined anything as a group. We would still have family nights, go to parties, the beach, the races, and even the hospital. It wasn't like he wouldn't go if I was there or vise versa, we just stayed out of each other's way.

Today was one of those days. We were going to the hospital to visit Jake again. We were all excited because a couple of days before Mia had been there and apparently Jake's hand had moved. We all wanted to go instantly to see him but it was late and the next day we had plans already that couldn't be cancelled.

As we arrived we all walked breathlessly to the room. The doctor had said not to get too excited but none of us seemed to listen. Mia walked excitedly ahead, directing us all to his room.

"Now, it wasn't major or anything," she said as we walked in. "But he clenched his hand into a fist and I saw it open again."

"Did he move again after?" I asked for the hundredth time.

She shook her head. "No, but it's a start… I mean, has he ever moved before now?"

"No," I whispered. "Unless he did while he was on his own, but there's no way to be sure."

"I am sorry, y'know," Mia said quietly.

"Why are you sorry?"

"Well, you've been with him for the past 6 months and you've said he never moved, yet I come in and he suddenly moves… I can only imagine how you must be feeling…" She said sadly.

I laughed before going over to hug her. "Mia, it's OK. I don't care who makes him move or why, just the fact that he did is amazing. I only want him to wake up."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Mia," I laughed. "Don't feel bad about it, OK?"

"OK…" She paused in thought. "Do you think he'll still like me?"

"What?" I asked, confused now.

"Do you think he'll still like me?" she asked again. "Like before."

"Of course he will Mia," Dom said.

"You have to say that, you're my brother."

"He will, Mia," Vince reassured her. "You're smart, funny, beautiful…"

"Again," she sighed. "You have to say that. You all do."

"I don't have to say anything," I whispered. "And I'm telling you, he will. He has no reason not to."

"Are you sure?" she asked worriedly. "Think about it, it's been over six months since I last saw him…"

"Yeah, but Mia technically it's been over a year since he last saw me," I explained.

"Over a year?" Jesse questioned.

I nodded. "Well yeah, he went travelling and two months later he met you guys, I mean he was with you lot for a few months and then add the months he's been like this… He's only ever heard my voice since he went travelling, Mia, but he's heard yours too."

"I guess you're right," she whispered.

"Why didn't he see you while he was with us?" Dom asked curiously.

"He was going to," I explained. "But it's two hours from here to your place, and I live an hour from here in the opposite direction. That would have taken me three hours to come see you all, I didn't have that amount of time. Then of course the heist came up so he didn't want me to come till afterwards… But of course this went and happened."

"So you live near here?" Letty asked.

"Not originally, I used to live much further east but we wanted a change so we moved here a year or so before he decided to travel."

"Why did he travel?" Vince said as he grabbed a grape from the fruit bowl. "He never did say."

"Money, we needed some and he was in search for ways to get some, he would normally race for it… I mean we both had jobs but him racing ensured a lot of money, but he lost his touch and he was afraid to lose."

"We're all afraid of that," Jesse laughed. "Well except Dom."

We all laughed at that. Dom had a reputation as king of the streets so the idea of him being afraid of losing was hilarious. Even if he was afraid he'd never admit it, none of the guys would. Jesse would be the only one to do it, Leon and Vince were too busy competing against each other all the time.

And that's when my thoughts turned to Leon, I hadn't noticed before that he never said a word throughout the conversation, even to reassure Mia about Jake. I looked over at him sat on his seat he didn't look miserable but he was staring off into the distance. I tried to not look for too long just in case he saw.

* * *

An hour or two later and we were still in the hospital. Leon still hadn't said anything and he never moved from his seat except for one occasion when he went toilet. Now was one of those times where Leon and I were left alone. The rest of the team had decided to go and get some food.

This time however I couldn't handle being in a room alone with him again and suffering in silence. I walked around the bed and fixed Jake's bed sheets for the hundredth time. I even brushed his hair out of the way and ate an apple from the fruit bowl, but finally I snapped.

"How much longer is this going to go on for?" I asked, a little harsher than I meant.

Again he didn't say anything.

"Leon, please," I begged as I went across to where he sat. "I wanted to say sorry as soon as it happened but you were so angry, I figured I'd let you cool off... And now you'll never talk to me."

"I don't see why I should," he growled.

I closed my eyes and turned my head away. "Please, Leon."

"No, you said you weren't messing me about but that's exactly what it felt like," he explained. "How can I be sure that a friendship would be any different? And why would I want it to be different? I'm not gonna lie, I haven't got over what I felt Raine, so how can we possibly survive a friendship?"

"Leon I…"

"Don't, Raine," he whispered as he walked past to go to the door. "I don't want to hear it."

"What can I do?" I mumbled.

He turned around before he reached the door, he was now stood at the side of Jake's bed. He looked at me for a moment as if he was thinking. I refused to move or speak till he did first. His expression constantly flickered between a sense of anger and thoughtfulness.

"Nothing, in fact, just leave, find your own place," he said angrily. "You're just like one of those skanks at the races. Only good for one thing. I doubt you're good even for that."

I went to say something, I wasn't angry, in fact I was almost in agreement but I didn't have the chance to say what I was going to say. A loud thump distracted me, closely followed my the noise Leon's head was pushed forward. He looked wide eyed for a moment before slowly turning around. I wen on my tip toes to look over his shoulder so I could see behind him.

I almost gasped when I saw what it was. Jake was _awake_, he was lying limp in his bed. He was looking determinedly at where Leon was stood. His hand was lying slightly off the bed and on the floor near Leon was an orange. Jake must have grabbed it from the fruit bowl and threw it.

"Don't… Call… Her… That…" He gasped as he looked harshly at Leon. "She's… _Nothing_like…That…"

"Jake," I breathed out as I fell to the floor


	16. Apologies

As I collapsed onto my knees Leon stepped towards me. He puts his arms around me and helped me up again. Surprisingly to me he kissed me on the neck. He kept a tight grip on me as he waited for me to calm down.

"Don't… Touch her…" Jake tried to shout.

"If I let go," Leon said sternly. "She's going to fall."

"Let her… Sit down… Then…"

But I didn't let Leon have a chance. I broke away from him and went over to Jake's bed. I slammed by hand against the emergency button so the nurses and doctors would know we needed them. I then helped Jake over to the middle of the bed.

"What's going on?" Doctor Malory said as he came around the corner, but he stopped when he saw Jake.

"He woke up, I'm not sure exactly when," I said desperately.

Jake went to speak but the Doctor stopped him. "What did he do when he awoke?"

"He erm… He threw an orange," I whispered.

"You've been in a coma for a long time, Jake," the Doctor laughed. "You can't go around throwing stuff, even an orange."

"Why do I feel exhausted?" Jake asked, he still sounded out of breath but he could form full sentences without breaks now.

"Like I said you've been in a coma for a long time Jake, almost eight months now," he explained. "You may find that you're a bit emotional and that you can't really think clearly about certain things, or have the capacity you used to."

"Will that change?" Leon asked.

The Doctor shrugged. "It can do, some say therapy helps."

"That doesn't explain the exhaustion," I pointed out.

"His body and mind have been through a lot," he said. "He's bound to be tired. Just get some rest. I'll have a nurse come in and give you a check, unless you want me to do it?"

"No, Doc," Jake managed to laugh. "You go, a nurse will do kindly."

Rosie was the nurse to come in. I explained to Jake that he had a nurse who would be assigned to him but she left on maternity leave so his new nurse was Rosie. He took to her straight away, I knew he would. She asked Leon and I to leave the room while they did the checks. Neither of us talked.

"What's going on?" Mia asked worriedly as she came round the corner.

"He's awake," I gulped.

She ran for the door but Vince held her back. "Let me go!" She called.

I went over to her. "Mia he's just being checked over, we can go in in a few minutes."

She studied my face before she stopped struggling. "How is he?"

"He may be a bit emotional and he could get frustrated because he may not be able think clearly or to the right capacity," I explained. "He's a little exhausted too."

"But apart from that he seems OK, yeah?" Dom asked.

"Well he managed to throw an orange at Leon's head," I shrugged. "So I think he's going to be fine."

"He threw an orange?" Dom asked as Jesse laughed.

"Why?" Vince asked.

"I may have said something a little offensive," Leon whispered in embarrassment.

"It was nothing," I muttered.

"Raine, I-"

"You can come in now," Rosie interrupted as she came out to us.

"Thanks, Rosie," I smiled as I went into the room.

Jake grinned over at me as I went over to hug him. "You look like hell."

"I do not," I laughed. "Is everything OK?"

He nodded. "Just what the Doctor said, I need to rest for a while."

"What about therapy?" I asked as the team poured in.

"I don't feel emotional and my brain capacity was never much," he joked. "But I'm going to go anyway."

He seemed to now notice the rest of the team in the room. "Do you remember everyone?" I asked.

"I think so…" He paused to look at them. "That dick there is Leon."

"Don't," I warned

He gave me a look of disbelief but then said. "The scruffy one is Vince, the bald one is Dom, the smaller one is Jesse and that lovely lady is Letty."

"Do you remember anyone else?" Dom asked, hope clear in his voice.

"Yes," Jake said sadly.

"Do you remember _me_?" Mia asked as she stepped into the room.

"Mia," he said happily.

She grinned and walked over to him. She sat quietly on the bed. Just as she was about to say something he leaned up and kissed. She looked shocked at first but then closed her eyes and kissed him back. He broke away after a few seconds and took some slow, deep breaths.

"Sorry," he whispered. "I'm not as strong as I used to be."

"I don't mind," she giggled.

"Wait, you're not with anyone?" he asked, looking over her shoulder at Vince. "Cause we weren't exactly official when I left…"

She brought his necklace out from under her shirt. She let it lie on top before whispering, "there's no one."

"I always thought…" He trailed off as he looked over at Vince.

"Don't… I lost to you once," Vince sighed. "Don't remind me that I've just lost again."

* * *

We spent a few hours with Jake. We explained everything to him. He told us that he remembered the heist and Michael's goons finding him. They had dragged him off, beat him up and then left him to rot. The next thing he remembered was being found and brought into the ER after that he just remembers waking up.

We talked him through what I had found out and my plans to go after the team as well as Michael and his goons. I explained my plans and how I discovered I could trust the team because of Mia having his necklace. He grinned at that. We then told him all about the plan.

"What are the living arrangements?" he asked once we were finished.

"Well with the team it's the same as it always was, but now I live there too…" I started.

"But there's space for you too," Mia reassured.

"You have a choice," Jesse piped up. "Mia's room with her or Raine's room with her."

"Or you can take one of the boys' rooms for a couple of nights while you decide," Dom added.

"Yeah, none of us mind the couch," Vince agreed.

"Let me give up my room," Leon said, he hadn't spoken since he tried to apologise to me. "My way of saying sorry."

"It's not me you need to say sorry to," Jake said angrily.

"Jake, don't," I whispered. "It's fine."

"What the hell happened while we were gone?" Letty asked.

"I'll let him explain," Jake said with a sly grin.

"No," I said sternly. "No one will explain anything."

"Then why won't you let me apologise?" Leon asked me.

"Because there's no need," I said, a little frustrated now.

"There is-"

I tried to not interrupt but I just snapped. "Fuck sake, I said there's nothing to apologise for! I agreed with you, alright? You're right, the way I treated you made me no different from _them_." I didn't use the words skanks because I didn't want to get Leon into trouble.

"Raine, I was…"

"Don't say you were wrong or whatever the hell is it you're going to say," I warned. "I won't say it again Leon, the next time you try to apologise I won't be responsible for my actions."

"That's my girl," Jake laughed as he kissed my cheek. I smiled sideways at him. "But…"

"Jake," I warned.

"I just think he should apologise."

"I don't want him to," I sighed.

"I just want to know what he actually said," Vince laughed as he ate an apple from the fruit bowl.

"And you're not going to know," I whispered.

"I called her a skank," Leon said after a few moments. "I said she was just like them, only good for one thing… If that."

The room went silent as they all took in what Leon had said. I notice Jake was looking sternly at Leon but he wasn't as angry as before. Dom, Vince and Jesse all had anger across their faces while Mia and Letty looked in shock.

"Why?" Letty asked.

"Yeah, why would you compare them to her?" Mia asked in disgust.

"It just sort of slipped out," Leon said sadly.

"Please tell me you didn't mean it," Dom said angrily. "Because I will not be responsible for my actions if you did."

"I just wanted to hurt her," Leon whispered. I got off of Jake's bed at this point. "I just wanted her to feel how I felt, I was just angry…"

Dom clenched his fist and went to punch Leon but I managed to get in the way in time. Dom stopped his fist just before it hit me and swore. He checked my face just to make sure he hadn't actually hit me.

"I could've hit you!" he growled.

"You were going to hit him," I said sternly.

"Of course I was, he was intentionally trying to hurt you," he growled. "We all know that you never meant to hurt him when you pushed him away after that kiss, you just weren't ready."

"I know that now," Leon whispered. "I shouldn't have been so angry."

He went to put his hand on my shoulder but I pushed it away and whipped around. "I agreed with you Leon and I said you didn't need to apologise but that doesn't change anything. You said whatever we had was done, you were so sure that this wouldn't work, even as friends. So I don't see why I should try if you were never going to."


	17. A New Home

"What's the rush?" Jake asked, a little irritated.

"I've been waiting a long time to get you out of there," I explained. "So I'm sorry if I'm a little excited."

"A little?" he asked, eyebrow raised, questioning me with his look.

"Oh shh, you're just as happy as me," I said.

He just shook his head as we walked up to the Toretto house. Leon, Vince and Jesse had come home earlier to get the place ready. Jake had decided to stay in Mia's room with her so the boys were also getting her room ready for him.

Dom was a head of us carrying a bag of Jake's stuff from the hospital. We were slightly behind. Jake was in the middle and had one arm around me while the other was around Mia.

When we entered the guys were in the lounge, they must have finished cleaning up the house. Jesse took the bag from Dom and took it upstairs to Mia's room, Vince got some drinks from the kitchen and handed us them and Leon just stayed out of the way.

"Are you sure you're OK with him being in my room?" Mia asked me.

"Do I not get a say?" Jake asked.

"No, because I don't have a problem with it," I smiled.

"Really?" Jake asked, a little shocked.

"Well, yeah, there's not enough from for two single beds in there," I shrugged.

"I thought you had a double? I mean, you hated single beds," Jake whispered.

"I do, but we'd need to trade it in to fit two beds."

"We've shared before," he shrugged. I saw the rest of the team look at him as he said it. "What's the difference now?"

"You have a girlfriend, it's weird." I noted that Mia grinned at that.

He shrugged. "I guess you're right."

"I just left his bag on your bed, Mia," Jesse explained as he came down the stairs. "I didn't want to rummage through."

"Talking about my stuff," he started. "When are we going back to the old house to get the rest of our stuff? _And_what are we going to do with the stuff we don't bring and the house?"

"Well," I started but paused to think. "We could drive over and get the rest of our stuff and everything else we can sell I guess, the house too. Although, we'll wait a couple of months, see how it goes here."

"Why?" Mia squealed. "Do you think it won't go well?"

"Oh, no, no," I reassured her. "It's just its really crowded."

"Like I'd leave you anyway," Jake smiled as he wrapped his arms around her. "I'd take you with me."

Dom eyed him. "Oh really?"

Jake coughed nervously. "With erm, with your permission of course."

Vince laughed loudly from the couch where he was now sat with a beer, the rest of the team were sniggering too. "I'm kidding," Dom laughed.

"You're a jerk," Mia muttered to her brother.

"Yeah, but you love me," he smiled as he kissed the top of her head before going to join Vince.

"Want to see _our _room?" Mia asked excitedly. I couldn't help but smile at the emphasis she put on 'our'.

He grinned as she helped him up the stairs. I could see the sly looks on the guys faces but I knew, and it looked like Letty did too, that nothing like that would occur. Well at least not yet, I hoped. I just shook my head as I went over to join Vince and Dom on the couch.

"Beer?" Vince asked as he passed me up.

I took it and pulled off the bottle cap before taking a sip. "Thanks."

"How are you feeling?" Letty asked.

"It's weird, it's like nothing ever happened, I don't really know how to feel about it to be honest."

"But you got him back," Jesse said happily.

"Finally," I breathed out. "I was starting to think that he was never going to wake up."

Vince put his arm around me. "Don't worry, he has and he'll be perfectly fine."

I didn't say anything and Vince stayed there with his arm around my shoulders. He didn't even budge when Dom asked if he wanted to play video games. So instead Dom was now sat on the floor playing games with Jesse.

I think the rest of the team did things like this to keep Leon away from me. I was always with one member of the team, none of them left me alone and whenever Leon looked like he was going to come over they gave him a look. I felt sorry for him, I really did but I meant what I said. If he wasn't going to try then why should I?

Even so, I couldn't help but watch him since the incident in the hospital. He would just sit quietly on his own, and whenever he was at the garage he would be working alone. I did feel like he was being isolated a little too much, I never wanted any of this.

"What are you thinking about?" Vince asked as he looked down at me.

"Nothing," I shrugged. "Just tired."

"Oh," Jesse said.

"What?" I asked numbly.

"Erm, well, we were moving stuff about and you had some of Jake's stuff in your room but we didn't know where to put them all so we just left it. Your beds completely covered," he explained.

"You can go lie down on my bed if you want," Vince shrugged. I gave him a look and he held a hand up in surrender. "Alone of course, just for an hour or so, I'll wake you for lunch."

I grinned and leaned against him so that my head was lying on his chest. "No, I'm OK, but thank you anyway."

He rubbed my back as he continued to watch Dom and Jesse play video games. Dom may be able to thrash anyone on the real track but when it came to video games he wasn't very good. Jesse was winning by a lot. I couldn't help but laugh when I noticed the score.

"Sorry about all that stuff on your bed," Mia said as she came down the stairs. "I saw it as we passed. I'll move it all later."

"Yeah," I yawned. "I'll help you with it."

"I didn't know you two…" Jake started as he looked at Vince and I.

"What?" Vince asked but then his eyes grew wider as he realised. "Oh, no, we're not."

"No, I just needed a pillow."

"I'm being used, we might as well be dating," Vince muttered.

"In your dreams," I yawned again.

"Your right about that," he joked.

"Oh, ew, really? Was that needed?" I asked as I sat up properly.

He winked at me as the rest of the team laughed. I couldn't help but notice the sad look on Leon's face. I shook it from my head as I focused on the game. It was now Letty playing Jesse. I even turned a little in my seat so that Leon wasn't in my eyesight.

* * *

"OK, so we got everything from the house," Dom said as he walked through the door with the last box.

"We even got this," Vine said as he threw something at Jake.

He caught it and looked down. "My car keys…?" He looked confused but then grinned. "You brought me my car?"

Vince nodded. "We found it in the garage, we sorted it all out as well."

"Yeah, I meant to work on it before… Well you know," he sighed. "How much did it all cost?"

"We're mechanics," Jesse laughed. "So nothing."

Jake just rolled his eyes. He knew it was best not to argue with the team, he never won. I just laughed as I got up from the couch and went upstairs. My bed was finally clear, last night I had slept on the couch because I was too lazy to move the stuff, plus we weren't sure where to put everything.

I laid back on my bed and let my hands rest on my stomach. I drew slow patterns on it as I looked up at the ceiling. As I did so I kicked my shoes off and moved further up the bed.

"Please, don't shout."

"Get out, Leon," I whispered.

"Please, just hear me out," he mumbled. I didn't respond so he continued. "I'm so sorry. I should have given you a chance. I now understand what you must have been feeling."

"Yeah, it's horrible isn't it?"

"It is," he said sadly. "So I'm so sorry and I'll make it up to you."

"How?" I asked.

"What?"

"How are you going to make it up to me?" I asked, more clearly this time.

"Oh, well, I'm not sure."

"Well if you don't know how to make it up to me then you can't possibly be able to make it up to me," I explained. "Close the door when you leave."

He did close the door but he didn't leave. He just moved further inside. "Raine, please."

"No, leave now or I'll scream," I muttered, but he moved closer so that he was stood near the bed. "The team aren't happy with you, remember?"

"I don't care."

I went to say something but before I knew it he had leaned down and kissed me. I tried to push away but he was determined. His hands moved up to brush the hair away from my face. Soon I gave in and kissed him back. I sat up a little as he came onto the bed. He pulled away for a second so that he could push me down again. I smiled despite myself when he kissed me again.

"Stop," I muttered as I turned my head to the side.

"Why?" he asked sadly.

"I can't, OK?"

"You don't forgive me, do you?" he asked as he got up and walked over to the door.

"Leon?" He turned around to look at me. "I do want to be friends though, just, not more than that."

He shrugged. "Will you talk to the team?"

I laughed as he walked out. I fell back against the bed and smiled. I _had_ enjoyed the kiss, it was nice and it made me tingle just thinking about it. I made myself stop smiling. I couldn't get into this, I needed to be sure of everything before I even considered going back there with Leon, but I just couldn't help myself.


	18. Back To NormalIsh

**Oh, it's been about a week guys. And I have a feeling this story will be coming to an end really soon, I'm not entirely sure though, but I'll warn you at the start of the next chapter if it is or not. Even so I hope you enjoy ^-^**

I ended up not being able to talk to the team about Leon. Every time I mentioned him they told me not to worry about it. None of them even wanted to talk about it. I never wanted this. I knew I was angry and didn't want him to be my friend but I hoped the others would still treat him right.

Even so, I still tried to make him feel more welcome. I passed him stuff at diner, I asked him to help with some files at the garage, I asked him to play video games and much more. I did subtle things. I made sure that I asked him so that the team couldn't tell him to get lost.

I felt really bad the entire time. It had be three weeks since Jake came home from the hospital and they were still treating Leon like that. Soon it became so much that I felt myself about to snap.

"Leon, just go home," Dom growled, acknowledging him for the first time in a while.

Leon looked sadly down at the spanner that he dropped. He had been dropping things a lot lately; I had to admit that it had become annoying. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"I don't care," Dom muttered. "Just go home."

Leon just nodded and picked up the spanner. He put it into the tool box and locked it up. He made sure he put it by and then he covered the car he was working on up. I watched as he took the overalls off and went to leave the garage. As he did Vince and Jesse made remarks in his direction. He paused but after a moment he continued walking.

I waited till I heard his car drive off before I shouted, "you two are such jerks!" I threw the folder I had in my hands at them. Both Jesse and Vince dived out of the way.

"What the hell?" Vince growled.

"Those remarks were uncalled for!" I shouted.

"The hell they were!"

"Yeah, V is right," Jesse mumbled. "He deserves it."

"Why does he?" I demanded. "Tell me why he deserves it."

"Because of what he said to you honey, he was a jerk," Letty whispered.

"And do I seem pissed at him? No, I don't," I said before they could all answer. "I've been nice to him the past couple of weeks. And he's been coming into my room."

"Who has?" I whipped round to see Jake coming into the garage with Mia, he didn't look happy.

"Leon," I said confidently. "He came in ages ago to apologise, I told him I wanted to be friends and I would talk to you guys about him, but every time that I do you all tell me to forget about it. So I felt bad. Every night he sneaks in we talk, we watch some DVDs and just eat junk food."

"We have been a bit harsh," Mia mumbled.

"No we haven't!" Vince said sternly.

I decided the best person to talk to would be Dom. He hadn't spoken since asking Leon to leave. "Dom, please. You all agree it's because of what he did to me, but I've forgiven him, we're friends. So what's stopping you guys?"

"Nothing, I guess…"

"Dom, brother, come on!" Vince said in disbelief.

"She's right," Dom said sternly. "We have taken this too far."

"So what? We gonna apologise or something?" Jesse asked.

"Tell you what, we'll have a party," Dom decided. "Jake can actually enjoy this one and we'll make it a peace offering for Leon."

"Thank you," I whispered.

* * *

I finished putting on my earrings before looking in the mirror. I had decided on wearing my new favourite dress. It was black, it came down to just before my knees and it was look cut and strapless. I had decided on heels with it before pinning my hair up. I decided I was going to have fun tonight, the team might actually be back together again.

I wondered quietly downstairs, not wanting to draw attention to myself but that's exactly what I got. I noticed guys staring and even a few girls. I walked slowly through the house. As I got a beer from the fridge I noticed Leon. He grinned at me and mouthed "thank you."

As I left the room I bumped into someone. It was Jasper from the last party.

"Remember me?" he asked quietly.

"Jasper, hi," I smiled.

"Raine, right?"

I nodded. "The one and only."

"Do you think we could actually have that dance?" he asked with a grin on his face.

In response I took another sip from my beer and put it down on the table. I smiled at him before taking his hand. I led him into the middle of the dance floor. As the next song came on we started to move. I could feel his hands on my sides but I didn't worry.

"So Leon…" He trailed off.

"We're just friends, in fact we did fall out for a while."

"Yeah I heard," he said sadly. "He was really cruel at the end of the last party."

I shrugged. "It's all in the past."

We spent quite a lot of time dancing, between them we went and got beers. At one point we even played video games. I had fun with Jasper, I could feel myself laughing and smiling. I noticed the team seemed pretty happy with us having fun. Although I couldn't find Leon and Jake seemed a tad unsure.

When the night came to a close I noticed that Jasper and I had been together the whole night. I made sure to see him out. He wrote his number on my hand and kissed me on the cheek. I held my cheek as he walked away. I turned around and walked into the house grinning.

"You seem happy," Mia said, trying not to sound too excited.

"Well I just made a friend without having grown up with them or having some sort of hidden agenda," I shrugged. "So I'm pretty happy right now."

"Jasper is nice," Leon said quietly from the corner. "I raced him a couple of times, he's honest."

"So you like him?"

He nodded but I could see the pain in his eyes. "Yeah, he's a friend… So, you gonna call him?"

"Not tonight, maybe tomorrow," I suggested.

"Are you sure?" Jake moaned.

"Don't," I warned. "Don't be all protective on my now."

Dom put a hand on Jake's shoulder, "don't worry, Jasper is a good guy, we wouldn't let him near her if he wasn't."

Jake still looked unsure but he dropped it. He and Mia soon retired to bed, as did Letty and Dom. I noted that Jesse and Vince played video games while Leon still continued to sit in the corner. I tried not to watch but I could still see the same pain and sadness in his eyes. What was wrong with him? I just couldn't work it out.

I soon went upstairs. I was growing tired of wondering and the shouting from the games. When I reached my room I went and got my phone. I put Jaspers number into it before setting it back down. I then stripped down to my underwear.

"Oh, shit, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

I turned around to see Leon in the doorway. He had a hand clamped over his eyes while the other held the door handle. I burst out laughing as I grabbed my blanket and covered myself. He peered through his fingers and then dropped his hand when he saw me covered up.

"I didn't mean to…"

"I know," I smiled. "Don't worry about it. Just knock next time, OK?"

He nodded. "I'll remember that, I just wanted to come and thank you properly."

"No need. I should've done something sooner."

"I don't blame you," he said. "They can be stubborn."

"Yeah, I had noticed, but now everything should be fine. You can go back to being stubborn with them…" I trailed off. "Are you OK?"

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine." I could tell he was lying but I didn't want to press him. "I'm going bed, I'll leave you to it."

I waited him to leave before I dropped the blanket and sat on the bed. Why wouldn't he tell me what's wrong? I thought we were friends now. I pulled on my shorts and t-shirt as I thought about it some more. I was still thinking about it when I laid back and hid under the covers. I hoped it hadn't been too late to get Leon back in the group, I couldn't help but wonder that maybe he didn't really forgive any of us.


	19. Love And New Chances

**Oh, last chapter... And it's probably the longest out of the lot, hopefully it's good enough to keep you interested for the entire thing. I hope you like it!**

Ever since the party I had been texting Jasper nonstop. He called me most nights right before bed, he said that it was just so that he could say goodnight. He also hinted that he hoped his voice would be the last I heard every night before I slept.

We made plans to go out on an unofficial date the Saturday after the party. We were going to go out for a meal and then down to an ice cream parlor that he had been going on about. The idea was that we would go out and if it went well we'd go out again, and this would be repeated till we realised us as a couple would never work or if a "date" happened to go wrong.

"You excited about tomorrow?" Mia asked happily after dinner.

I shrugged. "I guess so."

"You don't have to go if you don't want to," Jake reassured me.

I looked sideways at him. "I know I don't have to, but I want to. I'm just not sure what to expect, that's all."

"Well we're gonna go shopping tomorrow," Mia explained. "Just the three of us."

"Three of us?" Letty questioned, knowing full well she was a member of that three.

"Yeah, the guys moan about shopping and I can't do everything myself, no doubt Raine will just shrug at every suggestion I make."

"Mia, I'm going to be no help whatsoever," Letty moaned. "I'll be just as bad as her."

"I'm going to pretend that's not true," Mia grinned. "Like it or not, you're coming with us."

Letty folded her arms grumpily and leaned back. Dom laughed and put an arm around her before kissing the top of her head. Vince and Jesse were playing video games while Mia was sat on the floor in front of Jake, he was playing with her hair. I looked over at where Leon sat.

He looked sad, he hadn't said much since the party, especially to me. I thought he would've been thrilled to be back in everyone's good books, but apparently not. I'd been trying to find out what was going on but I never got the opportunity to ask him.

I sat studying him for a bit and when he looked up he smiled, it wasn't right, it was fake and it looked like he was fighting some sort of urge. I smiled back anyway then swiftly turned my attention to the video game. I watched as they played the new racing game, I still wasn't sure what the name of it was but I remembered them all going on about it, well everyone apart from Mia and Jake. While I was concentrating on it I kept looking over at Leon, I tried to make it subtle my only moving my eyes and not my whole head.

I hadn't even been able to work it out for myself. I thought that maybe he hadn't forgiven us but then I remembered how happy he looked at the party. I then thought maybe he was only pretending to be sorry to me so that the team would like him again but then I knew that was crazy, I had to believe that was crazy. The one thing that kept coming back to me was Jasper, he was fine till Jasper, but that couldn't be it. Leon had said Jasper was a good guy, he was one of the people to encourage me to call him. Why would he have done that if he didn't like the idea of him being around? All this guess work made my mind whirl, I was too afraid to talk to the rest of the team because I was afraid it would spark arguments if they worked out how distant he had been.

"What are your actual plans for tomorrow?" Dom asked.

"Oh, we're going to a meal, he's gonna surprise me apparently. Then we're going to this ice cream parlor that he kept going on about," I shrugged. "Apparently it does the most amazing ice cream, he has a feeling I'd love it."

"Is he paying?"

I looked over at Dom. "He offered."

"And you said no, right?" he asked.

Jake laughed beside me. "Of course she did. When we were like eight we went to the local shops, there was this massive of bag of sweets for like a dollar and I had a note so I figured I'd just add it to my pile, I knew she wanted it but when I offered she said she'd get it herself. I've never been able to buy something for her since, except birthdays and Christmas."

I grinned. "OK, maybe I was a bit extreme with the sweets but when you offer to buy me expensive things then that's a bit out of the question."

"What kind of expensive things?" Letty asked, now coming out of her sulk.

"Perfume," I said.

"Laptop," Jake added.

"New TV for my room."

"Leather jacket."

"Camera."

"And a video camera."

"A car," we both said.

"A car?" Vince asked, choking on his beer. "You offered to buy her a car?"

"Which I'm assuming she refused, because I've not seen one," Jesse commented.

"Yeah, one of the new model Nissan's," Jake commented. "I offered to before I left to come here, I thought it would be so much easier for her to get around if she had her own car, but like Jess said, she refused it."

"It was the latest model," I complained. "It would have cost a fortune."

"So if he got you an older model, would you have?" Vince asked curiously.

"Well that depends, the older ones can sometimes cost as much as the new ones…"

"Don't lie," Jake laughed. "Doesn't matter what the make, model or price was, you never would have accepted it from me."

"Well I don't need a car, I can get around fine by myself."

"You ever owned a car?" Dom enquired.

I nodded before proudly saying. " A mustang."

"Which one?" Jesse asked, excited as Vince's jaw dropped.

"A 1964½ Mustang, convertible."

"I can imagine you in it," Letty laughed.

"Yeah, you'd look fine in something like that," Vince commented but then quickly continued when he saw the look on Jake's face. "Why don't you have it any more?"

"It was too old," I said sadly. "Kept breaking and the parts were hard to come by, I sold it for a good price, to a friend actually."

"He owns a gallery," Jake explained. "It's a constant feature to it."

"That's kind of upsetting," Jesse said. "I would have loved to own a car like that."

The rest of the conversation consisted of my old car and my new lack of car. It was even mentioned that any of the team would drive me around if I needed it or if I wanted to drive myself they were all happy to lend me there car for a few hours. None of them understood why I wouldn't want to own a car of my own, to be honest I didn't know either, I figured it was because I was into older cars. I like fast cars like the team but I didn't want a flashy new car, I wanted a flashy _old _car. Problem with them is they're expensive and hard to come by, also it's difficult to get parts when they break.

* * *

Letty, Mia and I went shopping the next day. Mia had complied a list of things I needed to get, I enquired about the list because I was unsure as to why it was so long. She explained that she didn't like the lack of things I owned.

"Mia, I don't need all this stuff," I moaned as we went into the fifth shop.

"I agree with her," Letty mumbled.

"You're only saying that because you hate shopping," Mia shot.

"Well, can we have a break and sit down for a bit?" I groaned.

"Fine!" Mia exclaimed as she walked away.

Letty and I high fived each other subtly before following her. We decided to sit down on a bench outside one of the shops. Mia took all the bags from me and Letty, she arranged them out in front of her.

"So what did we buy?" Letty asked. She hadn't been paying much attention, just holding bags and making the odd comment.

Mia rummaged through. "Well, we got some bed spreads, picture frames to put some pictures in, curtains, a couple of blankets, new perfume, shower stuff and some new make-up. I also got similar stuff for Jake."

"Do we really need any more stuff?" Letty moaned.

"Yeah, can we just go look at clothes then leave?"

Mia studied us. "Aw, you guys are no fun!"

"I don't care, Mia," Letty grumbled. "I hate shopping and I only thought we were getting her a new outfit."

"I second that motion."

"Fine," Mia said sadly. "But let's get some food first, then we'll go clothes shopping."

"OK…" Letty started. "Let's go there." She pointed to a random café, I figured she just went for the first one she saw. It looked busy.

Mia sighed, "well we'll be waiting a while to be served… So Letty, honey…"

I wondered what she wanted but Letty seemed to know. "Give me your keys then."

Mia grinned as she handed her keys and the bags to Letty. I looked confusingly at Mia, in response she just grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the café. We waited in the queue so that we could just grab some stuff and pay for it. Once we had some cakes, snacks and drinks we paid and found a table.

"How did Letty know you wanted her to take the bags to your car?"

She thought for a moment before shrugging. "I don't know, I guess we just understand each other, we're all like that as a team… You and Jake will be like that with us soon, if you stick around."

"Mia, I'm not going anywhere," I said confidently. "Even if I get my own house I'll still see you guys."

"Of course you will," Letty said as she finally joined us. "Or we'd come and get you, constantly call you, invite ourselves over… That sort of thing."

"Yeah, probably just easier if I stay in touch," I smiled widely.

We spent the rest of the day talking about how Mia wanted to redecorated her room and mines. I felt bad about the fact that I might not be staying long. I really was thinking about finding a place of my own. The Toretto's household was going to be jam packed and I felt bad for taking up space.

I tried to not let these thoughts come through as we spoke, even as the conversations changed to more family related stuff like movie nights and beach days. I stayed quiet till we went through the last few stops. I just shrugged at all the suggestions of clothing that Mia made.

It was only when we got to the last shop that I was snapped out of it. I noticed an outfit near the back of one of the shops. It was casual enough to make me feel comfortable and show who I was but it was also formal enough to suit going on a "date" to a restaurant.

"Raine…?" Mia asked unsure.

I just ignored her and made my way to the back of the shop. I found the required clothes to make the outfit up. I took them into the changing rooms just as Letty and Mia reached me. I dressed fairly quickly and stepped out. I noticed the two of them looked wide eyed at me. I had chosen to wear a pair of tight fitting dark blue jeans, a washed out white tank top, a light blue pattern shirt and black biker boots.

"Well?"

Letty came over to me, she unlaced the boots and relaced them so that they looked a little more scruffy. Mia then undid the shirt so that it was open and you could see the tank top underneath. She then rearranged the top so one side hung lower than the other.

"I like it," Mia said approvingly.

"Yeah, it suits you," Letty commented.

"That's why I got it, it's comfortable and casual like I'd normally wear but I think I'd fit in well at a restaurant."

"If he takes you to one," Mia stated. "He never actually said where he was taking you, only that it was a for a meal."

"Well I'm hoping for a restaurant," I said. "I've prepared for that."

"Well, you can't back out now no matter what he has planned," Mia said with her arms folded. "I won't let you, he's too nice, now go change."

I rolled my eyes and muttered to myself as I dragged my feet into the changing room. I changed but Mia demanded I pass her every item of clothing as I took it off. Once she had them all she went to pay for them. I was left to put on my shoes and jacket.

I wondered back out to find Letty sitting on the floor. She gave me a half smile as she got up. We wandered over to Mia who had also picked up some accessories, I noticed that she hadn't paid yet so I slipped some money on to the desk. I just grinned when Mia faced me.

* * *

I had decided to get dressed earlier than need be. I wanted to sit down with the team for a while so that I could relax. Mia had done some make-up, it was simple, all natural colours except for the black eyeliner. As for my hair she just straightened it and left it as it was.

I wandered downstairs after I was completely ready. I made sure my phone, wallet and a spare house key were in my pocket before I walked down the stairs a little faster. Once I reached the last step I jumped happily.

"You seem happy," Jesse commented.

"I guess so," I said happily as I sat down next to Jake.

"I know that smile," Jake commented "You are happy."

I just smiled and shrugged. The team discussed a little about what they thought the date would entail. They even spoke about old dates and their favourite ones, I smiled at how close some of them were.

I tried to concentrate on what they were saying but my eyes wandered over to Leon. He was looking sad and staring into open spaces. I managed to catch his eye, I gave him a reassuring smile, hoping to get one back, I didn't.

I frowned before getting up and going into the kitchen. I grabbed a beer from the fridge, as I opened it I heard someone come in. I turned to see it was Leon, I smiled at him as I sat on the side across from him. I opened the beer, drank some and placed it next to me.

"Are we OK?" I asked. "Are you OK?"

He just nodded. "Sure."

"Leon, please, I'm going crazy trying to work out what's wrong with you," I complained. "And this is the first chance I've had to ask."

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I'm OK with you and the team..."

"But?"

"I've been deliberately off with you, trying to avoid you," he explained.

"Why?"

"Because I've been trying to fight the urge to tell you not to go on this date."

"I don't understand, I thought you liked Jasper, you said he was a good guy."

"That's the problem," Leon moaned as he ran his hands through his hair. "You'd go on a date and then another and another an so on. After that you're bound to be a couple, he's perfect for you."

"I don't understand..."

"Do you really not understand why that would be an issue?" Leon asked, stepping closer so that he was practically right in front of me.

"Please, spell it out for me," I said sadly. "I don't want to assume when it comes to us now."

"I really like you Raine, in fact love is probably a better word. I've been fascinated by you from the start, you must have seen it and when I got responses from you I fell for you," he explained. "When we fell out I mentioned that we couldn't be friends if we couldn't even date, or something to that effect. Well I thought I could handle just being friends with you but I need more Raine, just knowing that you're going on this date is killing me and it's not even a real date."

"Leon, I..."

"Don't, I know that nothing can change the fact that we're just friends. Nothing in this word will change the fact that we'll never be a couple," he said with a small smile. "Have fun on your date, OK?"

He wandered out of the kitchen and I followed. I was surrounded by the team when I did. It must've been almost eight. Mia made sure my make-up and clothing was just right before she nodded with approval.

"Are you sure you want to go?" Jake asked for the hundredth time. "Because you can still back out."

"No I can't," I sighed. "I'm about to leave."

Jake bit his lip but then smiled. "Well you look good. I'd date you, if it wasn't for the weirdness."

"I'd date you fullstop," Vince commented.

Letty clipped his ear and gave me a confident little smile. I kissed each of them goodbye and said I would call when I knew where we were going or if I needed a lift home earlier than expected. I waved to them all as I walked out to the front porch.

"I was just about to call you to let you know I was here."

"Jas, hey!" I said happily.

He took the few short steps of the porch in one stride. Once he reached me he wrapped his arms around me. "You ready?" he asked.

I nodded. "As long as you are."

He kissed my cheek and took my hand, he led me over to his car. He politely opened the door for me and even closed it once I was inside. I smiled to myself as I waited for him to get inside. When he did he made sure to turn on some air con and the radio before driving off.

I felt myself relax, it no longer felt stuffy and I liked the song playing. I found myself scanning the roads in front, I wanted to work out where we were going before we even got there.

"Stop trying to work it out," he commented with a laugh.

"Me?" I asked. "I wouldn't dream of working anything out."

"Liar," he smiled. "It's nowhere fancy."

"Then where?" I asked, a little concerned now.

"We're nearly there," he stated. "It'll be easier to show you rather than explain."

I bit my bottom lip as I waited. I suddenly didn't feel so relaxed anymore. I couldn't help but scan the area as we drove even further. Soon, however, I noticed the car start to slow. I realised we were at the beach. I frowned. What were we doing here?

"You coming?" he asked as he got out.

This time I didn't wait for him to get the door, I got out myself. He zapped the car shut and took my hand. I let him but I didn't hold on too tight. Not till I saw it anyway. We walked very little when I saw it, a small canopy. Underneath were two thin mattresses, it looked like those ones you use for camping. There were a couple of blankets, a table with objects on (I couldn't see what, it was covered with a cloth) and a fire pit.

"Come on," he said happily.

I followed him over to the small area. He let me sit down while he went to work. First he started a fire in the pit before then removing the cloth from the table, it had food underneath. Nothing major, mostly snack type food, the kind of stuff you'd get at a barbeque. As he did this I called the team to let them know where we were.

"I live in the opposite direction from here than you do," he explained. "So I cooked this, brought it over and then got you."

"You left all this here?"

He motioned to a small building. "They have a guard to make sure there's not trouble, he offered to look after it. He said if he had to leave his post then that was just tough. I took my chances."

I smiled as I looked out over the water, the moon was reflected in it and the waves sparkled. "I'm glad I decided to go with comfortable and casual when it came to clothes."

"I'm glad you did too," he agreed. "I mean, I bet you look good dressed all fancy, but this sort of style suits you more."

"So you like my outfit?" I asked as I let my newly filled plate of food sit on my lap.

"You look amazing," he commented. "Now eat your burger."

I did as I was told. We sat in silence as we ate but I kept looking at him, trying to not think about Leon and what he had told me before I left. We both smiled at each other whenever our eyes met. I soon had to put my plate aside, he soon did the same.

He moved closer to me and sat beside me so that we could look out over the water. Every so often we would nibble on what food was left while we spoke. It was our usual conversations although we found out even more about each other. I loved talking with him, it was comfortable, easy.

"Jas, why the beach?" I asked as he cleared the plates away.

He shrugged. "Seemed relaxing and simple, figured you'd like it... Did you?"

"Yeah, it was fun," I grinned. "Do you need help?"

He had packed everything up and was now looking down at it. "Uh..."

"Tell you what, go and put the fire out, I'll grab some stuff and you get what you can."

He nodded slowly before going to put the fire out. I took some of the stuff and carried it up to the car. A few minutes later Jasper followed with a pile of things in his hands. He managed to put them down and get his keys so he could open the car. We put the stuff in the boot.

"That's everything," he smiled as I went to go back.

"Oh," I whispered. "We still getting ice cream?"

"Do you want to?"

He moved closer to me, I stepped back and hit his car. I leaned againt it and tried to breath. He moved closer and put one hand on his car so that it was next to my head. I suddenly felt him pressed up against me as he leaned in.

"I can't," I whispered as I turned my face away.

"I know," he sighed.

"You do?"

"Yeah, I know you've got your eye on someone else," he explained. "Should we go and get that ice cream or...?"

"Can you take me home?" I asked sadly.

He nodded. "Sure thing."

"But Jas, I did have a good time, it was the best," I said happily. "You're an amazing person."

"I'm glad you think so," he grinned as he went round to the drivers side.

I sighed as I got into the car. As we drove home I made sure to let Jasper know that I really did think he was amazing and I really was up for the date at the beginning of the night. He believed me and said that he wouldn't give up a friendship like ours.

When I arrived back he helped me out of the car and kissed me goodnight. I had text the team to let them know I was coming home so I wasn't shocked to see some of them peering through the blinds. When I entered I saw the rest of the team huddled around.

"You're early," Jake said, worried.

"Yeah, I didn't feel it, y'know? We're just going to stay friends," I explained.

I walked past them, I ignored there questions and worried looks. I sank down into the arm chair and put my feet up. The rest of the team sat down and whispers started up. I looked over at Leon and gave him a little smile, for once he returned it and it seemed genuine.

"Was that a smile?" Jesse teased. "I haven't seen one for a while."

"Shut up," Leon mumbled.

"No, I saw it too," VInce laughed.

"Don't think you got it past us," Letty joined in.

"Guys, drop it," he grumbled.

"No, Leon, I think you should explain the smile," I said, mostly because I wanted to know if the smile really was genuine.

"I erm, I was smiling because I didn't feel like I had to hold back."

"From?" Dom asked, trying not to smile.

"Yeah, from?" I asked.

He looked suspiciously at me before saying, "because I didn't want Raine to go on that date, OK?" _Shit_, he was actually telling the team what he had told me, I wanted to stop him but at the same time I didn't. "I like her, OK? She knows that by the way, and I figured if she went on a date then it would ruined any chance we had, but trust me, I know I have no chance. Nothing in this world will change the fact that we're only ever going to be friends, nothing more." He took a breath while the others started whispering. "Now before I die of embarrassment I'm going up to bed."

I watched as he got up and walked towards the stairs. I could feel everyones eyes moving from me to Leon. I got up off the couch and wondered over to the middle of the room.

"What if I said I loved you too?" I asked. "Would that change anything?"

The room went silent, no more whispering. Leon turned to face me. "Come again?"

"You said nothing would change the fact that we'd never be more than friends, well does the fact that I love you too change that?"

"You mean that? Or are you just being nice?"

"Leon, you know I wouldn't say it unless I meant it..."

He didn't respond, he just came over to me. He wrapped his arms around my waist. He gave a look to which I nodded. He kissed my cheek, then the other one. He looked over my shoulder, I'm assuming he saw what he wanted because he grinned happily before leaning closer to me. I smiled as our lips met. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he kissed me harder. I let him lift me off the floor a little while we continued to kiss. I felt him spin me around, all I could do was just smile into the kiss.

**If you made it this far then honestly, thanks for reading! I hope you liked it. I wanted to end it where I didn't have to write more but I could if I wanted to, y'know? Even though this story is finished I'd still welcome comments and thoughts on it, even improvement ideas. :) Thank you again!**


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